


Papyrustale

by SkelePlatypus (AgentBengalTiger), veryloyalfan



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Beta read by Agent B Tiger, Character death is tricky in Undertale, Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Legs, Originally posted on my Fanfiction account, Papyrus and Comic Sans font enabled, Posted here in honor of Papyrusday, Rated T for character death/depression, lousy puns, skelebros, spoilers for the game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-13
Updated: 2018-07-30
Packaged: 2019-06-10 00:08:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 33
Words: 67,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15279228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgentBengalTiger/pseuds/SkelePlatypus, https://archiveofourown.org/users/veryloyalfan/pseuds/veryloyalfan
Summary: *Contains Spoilers*Could even the Genocide route of Undertale be changed if the player had the determination to save one monster, and avoid making a certain deal? Follow, Papyrus, Sans, and Frisk through the Underground as The Great Papyrus seeks to right wrongs, heal hurts, and to teach a certain human how to do a little better.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Papyrusday, everyone!!! I hope you enjoy!!
> 
> This story was Beta read by Agent B Tiger, who introduced me to Undertale, offered advice and brilliant ideas, and worked patiently with me to keep the story entertaining and on track ~Thanks, buddy!!

He could still feel the knife slashing through him. Impressive, for something that was supposed to be a toy. More impressive than his untimely end, in any case. 

Well, that certainly could have gone better. But he supposed that it could have been worse, too. Maybe the human was just… confused. Maybe the human hadn’t understood that he really wanted to help, or maybe the human had thought it was some mean-spirited trick? 

Maybe, maybe they’d know better now, and try a little harder. 

A little smile lit the skeleton’s face. Maybe he, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, had managed to save everyone else… except… the smile vanished as he remembered that he hadn’t been the only one looking to capture a human. 

Undyne… her intentions before would have been, murdery, at best. But after she learned what the human had done…

He sighed. It wouldn’t be easy, but he believed that the human could do it. If they talked things out, instead of fighting, then they’d both be safe, and he would have done some good.

He smiled at the thought of his friend, and the human who  could have become his friend, ending up as friends. And with a friend like Undyne, the human wouldn’t have to feel so alone or afraid. 

He knew what it felt like, to have no friends. But he couldn’t imagine what it would feel like to really be alone. Well… actually…

He looked sadly at the small, dark enclosure around him. Death wasn’t what he’d expected it to be. How could he have ever imagined that it would end like this? All his hopes and dreams had been reduced to… whatever this was. He seemed to be suspended in some void like place, just… waiting. For what, he didn’t know, but he was truly, and utterly alone for the first time, and he hated it.

No, wait… the Great Papyrus could not be defeated so easily, not even in this cold void of death! He… well, he still had his memories! He’d lived too short a life, for someone as great as himself, but, that was how it was, sometimes. And he’d amassed more than his fair share of wonderful memories, so he wasn’t really alone, even now.

So what if no one had ever paid much attention to him while he was alive? His short life would surely make it into the history books. The monster children for generations to come would want to dress like him. They’d be sung to sleep with songs of the brave skeleton that had taken his final stand against the human, and changed them for the better, saving the Underground at the cost of his own life.

They’d notice. Undyne would make sure of it. Perhaps she’d even make him an honorary member of the royal guards. The greatest ever. Yes… that wasn’t such a bad way to die. It would have been nice to have seen it. To have been a part of it all, but in the end, people would see him for what he really was. Just like his brother had always insisted…

Sans.

His poor brother. What would Sans do without him? Who would wash his clothes, or tell him to clean up after himself, or even to get out of bed in the morning?

A tear slid down his face, and he wiped it away as he hugged his knees to his chest.  “YOU CAN DO A LITTLE BETTER, TOO, BROTHER… I’VE ALWAYS KNOWN IT.”  But without his influence, would Sans be too lazy to try? 

No! He smiled again, hoping that the MEMORY of THE GREAT PAPYRUS would inspire his brother to go on living. Maybe even less-lazily. He frowned. Or maybe, Sans would be fine, and not change. Yes, he liked that image a little better. Sans, still sleeping on the job, still slacking off, still making the terrible puns that always made him smile…

He missed him, so much.

But, on a brighter note, his brother would be far too lazy to get near the human, just… just in case the human took a little too long to try a little harder. At the very least, Sans would be safe, and that was all it took to make him smile even brighter.

The memories came, and they hurt a little, but they were so precious and vivid, they kept him smiling. Sans had been so lucky to have a brother as great as him. They’d had a good life together.

He thought back as far as he could remember, and sought out all of his very most favorite memories… it seemed like the right occasion for it.

He was trying not to fall asleep at the memory of Sans reading his favorite book to him, when there was a small noise, and he realized that he wasn’t alone anymore.

A short figure stood in front of him, a little distorted in the void. He squinted, trying to make it out. Whoever it was, they were just about the same size as… no… his brother couldn’t be here! Sans was alive and well! He had to be!

“Papyrus?” The human stumbled forward, eyes filled with tears. “You… you were wrong.”

It wasn’t Sans. Of course it wasn’t. But… oh no! What had happened? Had Undyne and the human fought? That was probably it… talking would have probably been impossible… but if the human was here, then Undyne was probably fine, and maybe it was for the best? 

“I… I didn’t do even a little better… I could have… but I didn’t. It’s all my fault, and I ruined everything forever… all my actions… they corrupted this, creature, called Chara, and now… now it’s too late. I… I can’t reset anymore, because they won’t let me. I can’t save myself… but I can save someone else. I’ve thought about it a lot, and, I’m sorry… but it has to be you.”

“WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, HUMAN? I DON’T UNDERSTAND…”

The human’s head hung in shame. “You will. I… I don’t think you’d even want it to be you, but, you’re their only chance, now.”

“HUMAN? WHAT… WHAT ARE YOU DOING?”

“The only thing I can do.” The human wiped tears away as a button appeared in front of them, glowing orange. 

 

SAVE

 

“It has to be you, Papyrus. You’re the only one who can save them all.” The hand shot out, punching the button. 

And in a flash, he was freed from the void; restored. The tingle of excitement couldn’t last long. He walked back home, staring numbly at how empty his beloved little town was. “SANS?”

But his brother didn’t respond as he stuck his head through the door. He sighed. Here he was, alive, and wanting to tell everyone the good news, and his brother wasn’t even there? Sans had already been to his station, and the puzzles, so it was on to Waterfall, then.

He supposed he could just find Undyne, and tell her that he was alive, and there was a way to save everyone, too. And if he found her before Sans, it would serve his brother right for not paying attention.

He paused, feeling guilty for the thought. It wasn’t as if Sans would be expecting him to come back. Why… his poor brother had just lost THE GREAT PAPYRUS! He’d be beside himself at that unimaginable loss! It was a wonder he was at any of his stations at all! Good for him, all inspired already! And the best part was, he’d actually be around to see it!


	2. Chapter 2

The walk was not pleasant. Everyone was gone, and there was monster dust scattered everywhere, dashing his hopes that the human had felt instant remorse after killing him, and given up their murderous ways.

Papyrus made it to the bridge, and found Undyne’s armor; scattered among the dust. His hand trembled as he knelt, and reached out towards it, but he couldn’t bring himself to touch the helmet. He felt sick to his stomach, and he didn’t even have one! Technically speaking, that was.

So this was what the human had meant. Surely he was grateful to be spared, but he hated the thought of being the one selected when it meant that another monster, like Undyne, could have been spared instead. He could do nothing about it now, however, and perhaps the human had shown some wisdom in the end. If the GREAT PAPYRUS could not fix this, then… well, of course he could fix it!

He only let himself stay there for a few seconds more. Even though he was going to fix it, his friend had still been reduced to a pile of dust for the moment, and that hurt too much to just ignore. He had to keep going, so he tried not to think about the cooking lessons, and the noogies, and… he had to stop… too late. A tear escaped, and he wiped it away. “I’LL FIX IT.” The promise didn’t sound quite as confident as he would have preferred, or as forceful as she would have insisted. But perhaps she would have understood, given the circumstances. 

He forced himself to continue on, wishing, for once, that Sans could have just stayed put. He needed someone to assure him that this nightmare was truly something that could be fixed, and no one could cheer him up quite like Sans could. But HOW did his lazy brother stand the long walks to all his different stations? Ugh… he wasn’t waiting in front of the bridge to Hotland either! That must mean that he was at his last station. Oh well, at least the elevator was close.

His spirits lifted as he punched in R2. Sans had a fourth station around there somewhere, and he had to be at that one. His brother really could be quite clever about such things when he wanted to, and he’d be able to help him think of a plan. Together, they would fix everything, and make it right. He just had to find Sans, and then they’d put the human’s mess right, somehow. 

He found the fourth station, which, to his dismay, doubled as a hotdog stand. Even worse, under the circumstances, it was empty, too. This was the only other station Sans had. Which meant that… he smacked himself in the face. He hadn’t checked Sans’s room, or his workshop out back! His brother could be holed up in either of those places, completely oblivious to everything else. In fact, that was perfect, because if that were the case, it was likely that Sans hadn’t seen what had happened yet. He wouldn’t have had to be sad about the human killing him, or worry about living without THE GREAT PAPYRUS at all!

He gave a sigh of relief. Of course that’s what had happened. How silly of him! Being killed and sent back to find the monsters that hadn’t escaped Snowdin must’ve really messed with his head. Sans wouldn’t have gone to work if he had an excuse to be lazy! Even if he was locked in his room grieving a death that wasn’t permanent, all would be well as soon as he knocked on the door.

Well, now that he’d sorted that out, he’d just take the river person’s boat back to Snowdin, and find his brother. But first… while he was here, someone should probably check on the king. With Undyne and the royal guard down, it was practically his duty!

Yes, he would check on the king, first, and then assure him that everything would be just fine, because THE GREAT PAPYRUS would work on it non-stop until everything was fixed. It felt good to be helping, and it made him smile to remember that, with all that science fiction talk, his brother might actually know how to help already! The human had been able to save him, and perhaps they could save everyone just as easily!

He strutted along, focusing on all of the positives of this, admittedly horrible situation, and tried to ignore all of the dust he’d seen on his walk here. If there was a way to save him, there must be a way to bring the rest of them back. There just had to be. This couldn’t be the end.

He turned the corner, and made his way across a long, tiled floor. His steps faltered as he caught signs of yet another fight of some kind, that had caused more damage than all the others. The piles of bone attacks blurred out as his eyes latched onto an all too familiar blue hoodie, and a black pair of shorts with a white stripe on each side. One slipper stuck out from the pile.

He approached cautiously, trying to figure out why there was a pile of Sans’s laundry in a hallway in the palace. Because, he refused to even think… that simply couldn’t be dust…

His arm trembled as he picked up the hoodie, dust falling to the floor with his red scarf. “no.”

Sans was safe, back at home. He was too lazy to fight a human. His defense was too low. He… he was too, Sans, to be… to be…

He buried his face in the hoodie that he’d just washed that morning, trying to ignore the jagged, stained slash through it. He’d NEVER have thought that the human could mess up THIS badly… 

Sans had always been able to annoy just about everyone, and he’d enjoyed doing it. But no one had ever been able to hold it against him. Not really. He was just a quiet, unambitious, pun-loving monster who had seemed to be able to get along with anyone. How could anyone have hurt him?

Why had they even been able to? What was his brother thinking? Going up against the human that had killed the Great Papyrus, and Undyne? What… why had… he’d never meant to inspire Sans THIS much!

He didn’t think he’d ever be able to move again. It was one thing to look for Sans through everything that was happening, but to find him like this…

“S-STOP! YOU CAN STILL FIX THIS. YOU HAVE TO.” Finding a strength even he didn’t know that he had, he clutched the hoodie, and slowly stood up. He hesitated a moment longer before sliding it on. It comforted him to have something that made him think of his brother wrapped around him as continued on his way. The grief in his heart started to mix with panic. He was back, but now Sans was gone, and there would still be no more puns, no more bedtime stories, no more socks on the floor…

And no plans to fix ANY of this.

It would just be him, and the king, and… what if they weren’t enough? What if THE GREAT PAPYRUS, should somehow fail? What would happen to his brother, and Undyne, and all of the monsters that were probably sitting in the void, alone, right now? Even the human didn’t deserve that fate!

He couldn’t afford to think like that. Of COURSE he’d take this hoodie off again, someday. Because it belonged to his brother, and Sans would need it back. He… couldn’t stay gone. Not forever.

He stumbled into the throne room, and froze in disbelief at the sight in front of him.

Was there NO ONE left?!


	3. Chapter 3

Alone. He was all alone in the world. The monsters were hiding, or… he clutched the hoodie closer to himself, trying to draw comfort from the memory of his brother for the second time that day. But it was so much harder now that he was the one that was alive.

He felt the presence behind him before the detached voice spoke.

“You? How did you get back here?”

He turned. Oh. There was still someone left alive, at least. Another human… looking, creature. This human looked a lot like the other one, only… with glowing red eyes, and a different striped sweater.

A cruel laugh filled the room. “That idiot could have sent back ANYONE, and they chose YOU? HA! When _they_ couldn’t stop me from taking over? They, who were able to kill everything else. Not even the _fish,_ or your pathetic excuse for a brother could stop them!”

“WELL OF COURSE SANS WAS NOT ABLE TO STOP THE HUMAN. BUT H-HE TRIED!”

“HA! For all the good THAT did! He fell ASLEEP in the middle of the battle!”

Of course he did. Sans could fall asleep doing ANYTHING. Thinking about it was like a knife to his gut. He just wanted everyone back. WHY had the human done this?!

“ANYONE else would have made more sense. The smallest monsters put up more of a fight than you. So why you? Why did they pick you to try to stop me?”

“Because I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS.” Somehow, that hadn’t come out as confidently as he’d intended. He’d even winced a little as he’d spoken the words.

“I’ll be sure to write that on your grave. Oh wait… you won’t be getting a grave, because I’m going to erase EVERYTHING!”

“WHAT?!? WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT? IF YOU ERASE EVERYTHING, THEN YOU’LL ERASE YOURSELF, TOO. IS THAT REALLY WHAT YOU WANT?”

The human-like creature glared at him. “You wouldn’t understand!”

Was that… pain? “YOU… YOU LOST SOMEONE, TOO, DIDN’T YOU? FAMILY. I… I KNOW HOW MUCH THAT HURTS.”

More anger. “Of COURSE you do! Do you know why, though? It’s because I killed your pathetic brother! The human _never would_ have been able to land a hit without ME! So keep your pity to yourself!”

Sans wasn’t pathetic… just a little lazy sometimes. It wasn’t his fault that he couldn’t live up to THE GREAT PAPYRUS’S reputation. “I… I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHY YOU DID THAT, BUT… YOU CAN STILL CHANGE, YOU KNOW. THERE ARE STILL MONSTERS OUT THERE. YOU DON’T HAVE TO ERASE THEM, TOO. WOULDN’T… WOULDN’T YOUR FAMILY WANT YOU TO LIVE ON?”

“Ha! Like you want your brother to live on? Or your stupid fish friend? Maybe they would have even wanted YOU to live on, but none of you is going to get that wish, either!”

“SO THEY WOULD HAVE WANTED THAT! I THOUGHT SO. THAT’S HOW FAMILIES THINK. WHAT WAS YOUR FAMILY LIKE?”

They paused, and looked confused.  “I just told you that I killed your brother. Why would you ask me something so stupid?”

The face of the ‘creature’ was looking more and more human all the time, and there was a burning pain there that made him ache.  “WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM?”

“I watched them all DIE!” The pain seeped into the voice, and a tear ran down the child’s cheek. There was no glee in the face, now, only pain.

He walked over, and the child reacted by slashing the knife, blinded by new tears. He missed it easily, and hugged the little figure, focusing on the pain they must be feeling.

The ‘death’ grip on the knife didn’t loosen… nyheh, heh, heh… he wondered if Sans would have enjoyed that pun and decided that he would have… but the child in his arms didn’t kill him either, so that was a good sign. He’d gotten a bit further than last time, anyway, and that was a start.

“I… I was alone. I thought I’d never see them again, and then Mom was there, and, and she was just trying to protect them, but they killed her, just like everyone else! And they didn’t stop! And it… it HURT, so much, I thought, well, why shouldn’t everyone else die, too? Why shouldn’t YOU die, too!”

The child pulled back, tears angry all of a sudden. The anger faded a bit as their eyes met, and he realized that he was crying, too.  “AND YOU WERE POWERLESS TO STOP IT?”

“THEN I was. Not ANYMORE! After a while, I started HELPING them kill, until… I… I wouldn’t have killed Dad. But that STUPID weed got in the way, and I was going to crush it when… when I realized that it was Asriel, and I COULDN’T, _until they pushed me… then I just… what was the POINT?”_

“It doesn’t MATTER anymore! Didn’t you hear me? They slashed him, and then I made sure the job was finished. But that’s ENOUGH about MY brother. Let’s go back to talking about how I stood by and watched until your brother was worn out, and exhausted. Oh, don’t get me wrong, they were still trying their DARNEDEST to kill him, but he was still holding his own. He didn’t expect ME to decide to join the fun! HA! I wasn’t able to wipe that INSUFFERABLE smile off of his face, but taking control, actually FEELING the knife in my hand slashing through him…” The crazed look was back, and the child started to laugh. “If it’s any comfort, his last, pathetic thoughts were of you! What were his last words again? Let me see if I can remember…”

The murderous glee turned to confusion in front of him, and the child’s head tipped to the side, watching the tears run down his face. “Don’t you want to tell me to stop? Doesn’t it HURT you to hear this?”

He nodded. “IT DOES, BUT… AT LEAST… SINCE I COULDN’T BE THERE FOR MY BROTHER… AT LEAST I HAVE AN IDEA WHAT HAPPENED NOW. IT HURTS… OF COURSE IT HURTS, BUT… I’M NOT GOING TO ASK YOU TO STOP TELLING ME ANYTHING ABOUT SANS.”

“I MURDERED him. He’s DUST now, because of ME! And you’re… you’re HUGGING me! You’re wearing his stupid coat, and you’re hugging me!”

“YOUR FAMILY IS GONE, TOO. AND YOU WERE POWERLESS TO STOP IT.”

“Stop! Don’t try to pity me! I watched them all die, your precious royal guards, the not so undying Undyne… all the people who ignored you like the FORGETTABLE person they all see you as! Even your brother couldn’t REALLY stand you! He was DISGUSTED with you for FAILING so easily! "heh, well, at least _i_ didn’t fail everyone as badly as my pathetic excuse for a brother."

“THOSE were his last words. Imagine how much more disappointed he’d be if he could only see you now, COMFORTING his MURDERER!”

“I… I GUESS THAT SOMETIMES, WHEN PEOPLE FEEL PAIN, IT MAKES THEM FEEL BETTER IF THEY MAKE OTHER PEOPLE HURT, TOO. SO… IF IT MAKES YOU FEEL BETTER, YOU CAN KEEP GOING.”

“Your brother HATED you! He was as sick of your constant bragging and whining as I am!”

The words could have hurt, but they didn’t. He tried not to smile, but he couldn’t help it, any more than when Sans told one of his puns.

“What? Is it a RELIEF to finally know the TRUTH? WHY ARE YOU SMILING?!”

“BECAUSE YOU WOULDN’T EVEN TRY TO CONVINCE ME THAT WAS TRUE IF YOU ONLY KNEW. I COULDN’T EVER BELIEVE THAT SANS DIDN’T LOVE ME.”

“After getting after him for being lazy all those times? After refusing to laugh at his pathetic jokes?”

“THAT’S WHAT BROTHERS DO. IF WE’RE NOT TEASING EACH OTHER AT ALL, SOMETHING’S USUALLY WRONG WITH ONE OF US.”

“Like one or both of you have been MURDERED?”

He sighed. “YES. SOMETHING LIKE THAT. BUT YOU HAVE A FAMILY, TOO. YOU KNOW HOW MUCH THEY LOVED YOU, BECAUSE YOU REMEMBER THE WAY THEY TOOK CARE OF YOU. THE WAY THEY SMILED AT YOU. THE WAY THEY WERE THERE FOR YOU WHEN NO ONE ELSE WAS, AND…”

“Stop, stop, stop, STOP! I don’t WANT to listen to your… your… you shouldn’t even be here! I WATCHED YOU DIE! Even though… you didn’t even try to hurt them. See what your kindness gets you? _MY_ brother was right! It’s kill or be killed!”

“IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE. THE HUMAN SAID THEY WANTED TO ‘RESET’ EVERYTHING, INSTEAD OF ERASING IT.”

“So that they could kill again?”

“I THINK THE HUMAN HAS LEARNED THEIR LESSON. I BELIEVE THEY REGRETTED THEIR CHOICES.”

“Too bad! I WON’T let them do that again! It’s better this way. We won’t have to keep hurting this way!”

“BUT YOU…”

“FINE! You want everyone to have to die AGAIN?! YOU DO IT!”

There was a flash of a knife, again, and he was back to the void.

Wait… this was different. He pulled the hoodie closer around him, and stared at the wall in front of him. What did that mean? Continue, or True Reset?

Was this some sort of puzzle?

He looked around, but there were no hints. Was this what the human had been talking about? The reason he was their only hope?

Continue… keep going?

True Reset… start over? He gasped. As in, start over completely? Before anything bad had happened? Would… would everything bad just happen again?

No. The human couldn’t possibly make such bad choices all over again! Not after THAT! Besides, the child was wrong. THIS was NOT better than having everyone back, even if it was only going to be for a little while.

He reached out and touched it before he could second-guess himself, but that just had to be the right choice. This… this was too terrible.


	4. Chapter 4

The void swirled around him, leaving him in familiar surroundings once again. He looked around his kitchen, not quite able to take comfort in the fact that he was back at the house, because he couldn't really call it home right now.

Reset... reset what? What had been reset? How far back had he gone? Was he back at this morning, or was this from his search for his brother? Because that wasn't something he wanted to relive ever again, especially knowing how it ended.

Maybe he'd made the wrong choice. What if reseting right then had been a mistake? Maybe he should have continued, until the HUMAN could reset or something.

Footsteps shuffled behind him. ***why'd you let me sleep in so late?**

He stiffened at the sound of the voice even as it spoke again, more confused. ***bro… why are you wearing my hoodie?**

"SANS!!!!"  He turned and grabbed his brother, clutching him tightly.  "YOU'RE ALIVE, YOU'RE ALIVE!!! YOU'REALIVE,YOU'REALIVEYOU'REALIVEYOU'REALIVE!"

Sans hugged him back. ***whoa… easy bro. of course i’m alive.** His brother pulled back just enough to look him in the eyes. ***why wouldn’t i be alive?**

There was something about his brother’s expression. Sans looked down, and then frowned as he reached out and touched the stain in the rip that ran sideways through the hoodie. There was a flash of near remembrance in his eyes, and when he looked back up, it turned to concern. ***paps… what happened?**

“A HUMAN CAME, AND… THEY KILLED EVERYONE, BROTHER. BUT THEY SAVED ME SO THAT I COULD FIX THINGS, AND I THINK… I THINK I ALMOST HAVE. THE OTHER CHILD DIDN’T ERASE EVERYTHING!!! THEY, WELL, THEY KILLED ME, SO I RESET, AND NOW YOU’RE BACK, AND EVERYTHING’S OKAY AGAIN, ISN’T IT?”

He needed to explain that better… it sounded bizarre to him, and he knew what he was talking about… but Sans didn’t ask him to clarify any of it. His brother just took a deep breath, and hugged him tighter. It seemed like he was trying to find the right words, and then he settled on, ***sorry you had to see that.**

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN?”

Sans sighed. ***this human… i think… well, i’m pretty sure they’ve been here before. the research i was doing suggested that something was up. never mind that… the main thing is, they’re messing with us, paps. but in my ‘dreams’ they always follow more of a pattern. this… this is new. i think. what else happened?**

He told Sans everything. Every, single, detail. He even let go of his brother so that he could pace back and forth. It was so good to see him alive again, he could have dropped to the floor and taken a nap right then and there, and The Great Papyrus would have nothing to say about it. Which reminded him...  “HERE, SANS. THIS IS YOURS.”

He started to shrug out of the hoodie, but Sans put his hand on his arm to stop him, a knowing smile on his face. ***hold onto it for me for a bit, will ya, bro?**

He nodded with a smile. “OF COURSE. THE GREAT PAPYRUS WOULD BE HONORED TO PROVIDE THIS SERVICE FOR YOU!”

Sans chuckled, such a welcomed sound! ***thanks, paps. i knew you’d have me ‘covered’.**

A pun! He didn’t even try to pretend that he hated that he was smiling. He was sure it would wear off, but for now, it was just too nice to have Sans back. “WHAT NOW?”

His brother only frowned with his eyes. ***i guess we go wait for the human to show up again. if my research is any indication, there’s not a whole lot else we _can_ do.**

“ALRIGHT. BUT I’M STAYING WITH YOU. WHATEVER POSSESSED YOU TO FIGHT THE HUMAN, BROTHER? YOU KNOW YOUR SKILLS DO NOT EQUAL MINE???” 

He shrugged. ***don’t know. all i’ve got are nightmares that feel like pieces of memories. i guess maybe i had to stop them from ending everything? looks like i failed. He glanced grimly at his hoodie.**

“I’M SURE YOU DID YOUR BEST, SANS. I’M ONLY SORRY THAT I WAS NOT ABLE TO CONVINCE THE HUMAN TO STOP IN TIME.”

Another sharp glance. ***i… i think you have… in the past. alternate futures… ugh. hurts to think about it for too long.**

“THEN DON’T. LET’S GO FIND THAT HUMAN… SANS! LOOK OUTSIDE! EVERYONE IS THERE! THEY ARE ALL ALIVE!!!”

Sans looked like he knew exactly how he felt. ***they sure are.**

He hesitated with his hand on the doorknob, then turned to look down at his brother. “SANS, WHEN I SAW WHAT THEY HAD DONE TO YOU… I… I COULDN’T…”

Sans’s eyes softened to fit his smile better. ***i know.**

Right. Sans had pretty much implied that he’d done this before. Come to think of it, all those nightmares of Sans's might actually make sense now. Somehow, the thought that his brother understood only made things seems a little worse. “I GUESS WHAT I’M TRYING TO SAY IS… WELL… I LOVE YOU, BROTHER.”

Papyrus bent to hug him again, and it was immediately returned. His brother’s normally nonchalant voice was a little choked up. ***love you, too, paps.**

“I KNOW.”

Sans pulled away first, clearing his throat awkwardly. ** *um, so… yeah. chances are the kid’s not gonna show up right off after what you told me. so let’s go get my research, and go through it together. **

“BROTHER?”

** *yeah? **

“IF YOU KNEW SOMETHING LIKE THIS WAS HAPPENING OVER AND OVER… WHY… WHY DIDN’T YOU EVER TELL ME?”

Sans shrugged, and scratched the back of his head. ***** i **wasn’t even sure** i **wasn’t going insane when** i **woke up this morning, pap. there hasn’t been a human for a long time…** i **mean, technically speaking… they haven’t even come yet. it’s… confusing, you know?**

“YOU DIDN’T THINK I’D UNDERSTAND?”

Sans’s eyesockets darkened in exhaustion. ** *all i had was suspicions and… those nightmares.**

Papyrus nodded. “I REMEMBER THE NIGHTMARES, BROTHER. THEY UPSET YOU.” They’d driven Sans into a panic, more often than not. But if that had all been reset, why did either of them remember that? Sans was right. It was a very confusing puzzle.

Sans’s hands went instinctively to pockets that weren’t there. Papyrus started to shrug out of the hoodie again, and shook his head when Sans tried to stop him this time. “NO, I’M ALRIGHT, BROTHER. YOU’RE HERE, NOW.” But as he pulled it off, and saw the rip again, suddenly, he couldn’t bear to see Sans wearing it. Not in its current condition. He folded it to hide the cut. “UM, I JUST NEED TO WASH IT FOR YOU FIRST…” and mend that rip.

There was sympathy in Sans’s eyes, but he didn’t say anything as he followed him into the living room, where the laundry basket sat on the couch, filled with freshly washed laundry that he himself had just finished this morning, who knew how many ‘resets’ ago. Sans’s hoodie lay on top, without a hint of a stain on it. “BUT… HOW?”

Sans gently took the hoodie from his hands, and held it up next to the other one, shaking his head. ***kid’s done a number on the time-space continuum. i don’t think things have started duplicating like this, yet, but let’s grab those notes, just to make sure.**

Sans pulled the clean hoodie on, and smiled up at him. ***thanks, bro.**

Without the rip, the familiar sight of Sans wearing his hoodie only lightened Papyrus's heart more. “AFTER WE GET THOSE NOTES OF YOURS, CAN WE GO SEE UNDYNE?”

***sure thing.** i’d **say head on over right now, but let’s give you a little more time to** adjust, **kay?**

He nodded in agreement, the thought of how he’d respond to a living Undyne right at that moment… or, really, at any moment now… he frowned, trying to remember. He could remember Sans’s many nightmares, and a few of his own. But other than that, the only ‘reset’ he could really remember was the one he’d lived through, yesterday? Later today? He shook his head to clear the dizziness. Sans had been acting very strange, but he hadn’t had time to notice, what with the sudden evacuation of Snowdin, and the human eerily skipping his every puzzle. But in retrospect, his brother had probably been trying to figure out if his worst fears had come true.

A hand touched him. ***you ok, bro?**

“I THINK SO. ARE YOU, BROTHER?”

** *heh. i’m not sure, either. but we got each other, right? **

“ABSOPOSITIVELUTELY!I KNEW THAT IF I COULD JUST FIND YOU, THAT WE COULD WORK THIS OUT TOGETHER. AND… SANS?”

** *yeah? **

He crossed his arms. “IF WE, FOR WHATEVER REASON, JUST PUT THINGS BACK THE WAY THEY WERE, AND YOU FIND YOURSELF WONDERING IF YOU’RE CRAZY AGAIN? DO NOT SUFFER IN SILENCE, BROTHER! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WISH TO BE THERE FOR YOU, NO MATTER HOW CRAZY YOU SOUND!”

Sans rubbed the back of his vertebrae. ***i know that, pap. sheesh… how sappy you wanna get? let’s grab those notes, and give me a break already.**

Papyrus rolled his eyes, knowing that his brother appreciated the offer, even though he’d deny it, and the chances of Sans ever taking him up on it were very slim.

He followed Sans up to his room, and ignored the clothes scattered everywhere. Sans didn’t even seem to notice at first, then paused in the middle of his room, and rubbed the back of his neck. He scooped up a couple arm-loads of clothing and rolled them up in his bedsheet, shooting a sheepish grin back at him.

Papyrus crossed his arms, shaking his head at the laziness, trying not to be amused, and loving the familiar feeling of being annoyed.

Then Sans pulled a drawer open. His facial expression almost serious. ** *alright. let’s see what we’ve got here.**


	5. Chapter 5

Despite his brother’s offer to share all his notes, he couldn’t help but notice that Sans was giving each a quick scan before adding them to the pile in front of him, and some were getting tucked back into the drawer. He wondered if he should be more proud of Sans for working so hard to keep a secret like this, or annoyed, because he was probably just too lazy to tell anyone. After a while, though, the notes in front of him distracted him too much to pay attention to what Sans was doing 

“WHAT DID YOUR EXPERIMENTS HAVE TO DO WITH DOGS?”

Sans blinked, not expecting that question. Then his eyes twinkled like there was a pun to be found. He didn’t laugh, though.  ** *different kind of lab, bro. it’s referring to the laboratory in hotland. **

“OH.”

There was a lot more science stuff that he didn’t understand. Some of the notes were filled with numbers, resembling complex puzzles. It appeared that if he wanted Sans to actually recalibrate his puzzle, he’d have to find a way to make him use numbers.

He rubbed the space between his eye sockets. Everyone was alive, now, but that didn’t take the pressure off. From what Chara had said, the human could do it all over again. He frowned, glancing back at his brother, feeling guilty that something was still nagging at him. But he had to rid himself of the nagging traces of doubt. “I KNOW YOU CAN’T REMEMBER, BUT… I GUESS I DIDN’T FIGHT THE HUMAN. JUST… TALKED TO THEM, AND TRIED TO CHANGE THEM. WOULD YOU…” he winced, wanting to look away but not wanting to miss the truth if it appeared in Sans’s eyes, “WOULD YOU HAVE BEEN… ASHAMED OF ME?”

Sans looked shocked, but only at the last part of the sentence, which was something of a relief.  ** *papyrus… never. i could never be ashamed of you. you’re the coolest! what made you even think that? **

He sighed, staring down at the notes Sans had scribbled about blue magic attacks, and ‘gaster blasters’. He’d known his brother had never sparred with his full potential, but this was more than he’d suspected.  “IT’S JUST…” Chara’s cruel words came back to him again, and he shoved them back. They’d proved they were lying when they tried to make him think that Sans actually hated him. If that had been the only thing weighing on his mind, he wouldn’t have even brought it up.  “IT’S JUST…” he paused, half hoping that Sans would get bored of waiting for him to finish. But if there was anything good about Sans’s laziness, it made his brother very, very patient. After a full minute of silence, Sans set the paper he’d been holding aside, eyes never leaving Papyrus’s face. His hands dropped onto his knees, and gave the impression that he was just settling in for the long haul.

Papyrus sighed again, and waved the paper at him. “I SAW ALL THE DAMAGE YOUR BATTLE DID. AND UNDYNE’S. YOU DID BETTER THAN I COULD HAVE, EVEN IF I _HAD_ TRIED. AND I JUST…”  he tried to stumble for the right words that wouldn’t give the wrong impression that he, The Great Papyrus, doubted himself for a second. The sense of hurry wore off when Sans just sat there calmly, letting him finish. He let his head drop.  “I CAN’T HELP BUT WONDER, WHY THE HUMAN CHOSE ME. I DON’T KNOW HOW TO FIX THIS. WHY WOULDN’T THEY SEND YOU BACK, INSTEAD?”

There. His guilt was out in the open. He hadn’t chosen to come back instead of his brother, but he had. And now that he was looking at these notes, thinking about how much better Sans seemed to understand the situation, he wondered if maybe… maybe the human had just been playing some kind of cruel trick.

** *hey… **

He looked back at his brother, relieved to hear the soothing reassurance in that one word. Sans was, of course, smiling, but his eyes were serious as he gestured to the papers. 

** *i don’t know how long this has been going on, or how many times i’ve apparently tried to stop this anomaly. but i do know for sure that i never got this far. don’t you realize what you did, pap? you saved us all from being wiped out of existence! i can’t think of one, single other monster who could have done what you did. and you know something? i’ll bet the kid knew that. ** Sans slapped his hand into the sheet of paper he’d written his attack patterns on.  ** *course you coulda fought better than i did. but ya _didn’t,_ ** **pap. and that’s why you succeeded when no one else could’ve.**

“REALLY???”

** *yeah. really. so stop doubting yourself, kay? you’ve never even seen this crap before, and you already understand it way better than i do. **

“BUT…”

Sans seemed to be done listening.  ** *nope. no buts. looking at all this, hearing what you’ve told me, my plan would be to lie low, wait for the human to make all the moves, and then maybe try to step in at the last second, when there’s nothing else to stop the kid from ending everything. maybe try to win ‘em over with a pun or two. i don’t know. **

Papyrus smiled at that last bit. Sans’s puns were generally for Sans's own benefit, not anyone else’s.

** *and it looks to me like that plan crashed and burned. **

It didn’t seem right that Sans was allowed to doubt himself, just because the plan hadn’t worked. “I KNOW YOU DID YOUR BEST, BROTHER.”

** *but you know what i woulda done if i’d met this chara, and found out that they were going to just, erase everything? **

Sans eyelights were slowly going black, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to hear the answer.

** *i’d have fought them. and if they’d beat me, you know… again, they’d’ve erased us all. ** The whites of his eyes reappeared, his normal, happy go lucky smile in place.  ** *but you… i’m just as proud of ya as ever, papyrus. **

He hadn’t even realized he needed to hear the familiar words, but the praise made him glow so much he found himself embarrassed by it.  “SANS! WHAT DID YOU SAY EARLIER ABOUT SAPPY STUFF?!”

His brother grinned, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his hoodie, and leaning back against the bureau.  ** *that don’t count. haven’t i always said that? **

“ABOUT OTHER THINGS, YES.” But somehow being himself, and cooking classes and training for the royal guard, and puzzle making just didn’t seem QUITE as important as this last task.  “DO YOU REALLY THINK I DID THE RIGHT THING?”

He chuckled.  ** *that’s what i’m sayin’. **

Papyrus gave a relieved sigh, not 100% sure why his lazy brother’s confidence reassured him. But if he thought back, very hard, there had been one or two times when Sans had had to remind him to never doubt himself, before.  “I’M SORRY. YOU’RE RIGHT, OF COURSE. WHAT WERE YOU TRYING TO SHOW ME?”

Sans quickly explained some things he had a hard time following; he’d never thought much about quantum physics before. But by the time his brother finished, he understood a little better what had been at stake, and what still was.

“SO… ALL WE HAVE TO DO IS CONVINCE THE HUMAN TO STOP.”

His brother nodded slowly.  ** *yeah. i guess that is ‘all’ we have to do. **

He considered the pun carefully, trying to decide how annoyed his response should be.  “I… DON’T GET IT.”

***those were air quotes. not a ‘** pun’ch **line.**

He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.  “SANS!”

His brother cackled at the expression on his face.  ** *you’re grinnin’! **

“I AM, AND I HATE IT!” He glanced down at his brother, wondering if Sans really knew that he didn’t hate it as much as he pretended. He’d have settled for a knowing wink, but Sans ignored the look completely, standing up, and brushing himself off with a few lazy swats. 

** *alrighty then. we’ve agreed that you’re the expert here. what do we do first? **

Wowie! And to think, he’d been panicked to think he’d have to do this without Sans’s knowledge of science-like things.  “WELL… I THINK THAT YOU WERE OFF TO THE RIGHT START, BROTHER. I CAN’T THINK OF A WAY TO CHANGE THE HUMAN’S MIND WITHOUT THE HUMAN ACTUALLY BEING HERE. WAIT! THE TRAPS! SANS, WE NEED TO CHANGE THE TRAPS! PERHAPS, IF WE ARE MORE WELCOMING AND FRIENDLY, THE HUMAN WILL NOT BE FRIGHTENED AND ATTACK US!” He thought back to his walk through an empty Snowdin.  “AND… WE MIGHT WANT TO TELL THE MONSTERS TO HIDE. JUST… JUST IN CASE.”

Sans nodded.  ** *sounds like a plan. wha’da’ya’ need me to do? **

His brother was actually offering to help? In a tone that implied that he was actually going to do it? Miracles were possible after all! That human didn’t stand a chance, with all this change going on, they’d just have to listen to THE GREAT PAPYRUS, and learn, not just to be better, but maybe even how to help him save the entire Underground! He couldn’t contain a chuckle at the thought.  “NYEH, HEH, HEH! COME ON, SANS. LET’S RECALIBRATE OUR PUZZLES!” 


	6. Chapter 6

Papyrus made the last few tweaks to his puzzle, and stepped back to admire it. He kept admiring it for a few minutes longer than necessary, because he was almost afraid to turn around, and see what Sans had been working on all this time. 

He bravely gathered his courage, and shot a glance over at his brother. It hadn’t been strange to have Sans around so much… the two of them had always been pretty inseparable. What he wasn’t used to was this anxiety. The memory of finding that pile of his brother’s clothes continued to haunt him, even with Sans sitting in the snow behind him, humming contentedly as he worked…

His shoulders slumped when he saw that Sans was just writing on a piece of paper. Again. Even after they talked about it, and everything!

Sans caught the look, and grinned up at him.  ** *don’t worry, bro. it’s not as bad as you think. **

He crossed his arms and marched over.  “SANS, IF YOU JUST WROTE YOUR NAME ON THAT PAPER… I SWEAR!”

***naw. ** His brother surrendered the paper without a fuss.

The scrawling on the paper in front of him surprisingly had the makings of an actual, for real, challenging puzzle. Not up to scale with his own, of course, but he was impressed, and the fact that Sans had put any effort into his task at all was encouraging. There was only one problem; there was no way to solve the puzzle in its current form.  “UM…” how could he put this in a way that conveyed the problem without appearing to disregard his brother’s effort?  “IT’S VERY WELL DRAWN, SANS. AND I CAN SEE THAT YOU USED SOME OF YOUR SCIENCE EQUATIONS TO MAKE IT YOUR OWN. I’M SURE IT WILL STUMP THE HUMAN?”

Sans chuckled, still sitting in the snow.  ** *relax, papyrus. it’s just a blueprint. i was sorta hopin’ that you’d help me build the actual puzzle. cause, ya know i’m too lazy to finish it by myself. **

Papyrus felt his delighted smile melt into a frown. Leave it to Sans to ruin a personal dream of his by making it about being lazy. But never mind that! The Great Papyrus could ignore such sluggish behavior this once, if only to make certain that the job actually got completed. He settled for sighing. “VERY WELL. SHALL WE SET UP THIS PUZZLE IN YOUR USUAL SPOT?”

***actually, i was thinking we could replace the puzzle by the gap with this one. **

“WHAT?! BUT… BUT THAT PUZZLE IS… I…”  As he tried to hide his dismay at having all his plans disrupted, his brother’s chuckle quickly warmed up to a chortle. 

Sans wiped away an imaginary tear with a wink. ** *just kiddin’. my spot’ll work fine.**

As much as he tried to discourage laughter at his expense, it was actually a relief to have Sans acting more like himself.  “THE PLANS OF THE GREAT PAPYRUS ARE NOT SOMETHING YOU SHOULD JOKE ABOUT, BROTHER. I’VE WORKED HARD TO MAKE SURE THAT THE HUMAN WILL BE GREETED BY SOMETHING THEY AREN’T EXPECTING, AND EVERYTHING HAS TO BE PERFECT. NOW, LET’S BRING THESE LEFT OVER PARTS TO YOUR AREA, AND REPLACE THAT PIECE OF PAPER YOU WERE TRYING TO PASS OFF FOR A PUZZLE!”

Sans managed to make getting to his feet look lazy. To top it off, he lumbered over to the puzzle, and picked up only one piece the size of his hand before continuing on his way.

Papyrus rolled his eyes, and demonstrated the proper way to transport materials, by scooping up the rest of the pile, and shifting his weight until he could see through the assorted odds and ends. “IT’S NO WONDER YOU WANTED MY HELP. HONESTLY, SANS, YOU ARE SUCH A LAZYBONES! AT THIS RATE, THE HUMAN WOULD HAVE JUST WALKED BY, AND YOU’D STILL BE BUILDING YOUR PUZZLE! IF YOU WEREN’T ON BREAK, OR TAKING A NAP…”

_"He fell ASLEEP in the middle of the battle!”_ He froze from the pain of the image in his mind as heard the words again, ringing through his head like they’d actually been repeated. As he stood there, another thought dawned on him. He’d overestimated the human’s ability to change once before. What if that happened again? Was asking Sans to work harder than normal a smart idea?

***bro? **

He looked through the pile of scraps in his arms, down at his grinning brother, seeing the concern in his sockets. ***you started acting like a star for a second there.**

“WHAT?”

** *you know… spacing out. ** Sans closed his ridiculous pun with his customary wink, his brother's eyes still asking if he was okay.

This was ridiculous. He was almost convinced that he was close to tears over something that would never happen now. They were fixing it. Why couldn’t he stop thinking about how things had gone so wrong? If his lazy brother could grin and carry on like it was just another normal day in the underground, then surely…

He started to reach out to hug Sans, and the pipes and springs and assorted objects clattered to the ground between them, freezing him once more. They both stared at the pile of mostly metal at their feet like it had dropped out of the sky, instead of his arms.

His hand started to tremble a little, and he couldn’t stop it, even though he tried to hold it still with his other hand. 

And then Sans let his tiny section of pipe fall to the ground in a display of exhaustion, shaking the hand that had been holding it, and rubbing his wrist and just generally hamming it up.

It was so silly, it shouldn’t have been funny at all. The idea that they were still standing here because their piles were too much to handle a second longer. And the way his mind kept replaying that last, tiny piece falling to the ground…

It cut something loose inside of him, and suddenly, he was laughing. He really couldn’t have explained  _why_ he was laughing, but that simple act overrode everything else, and he couldn’t stop. 

Sans joined in, naturally, and the throaty chuckle only made him laugh harder, like that time Sans had convinced him to play that prank on Undyne. They’d spray-painted her door, and hid, trying to keep quiet, but every time one of them went silent, the other would start in again, until they were both snorting with laughter in a very un-royal-guardsman-like fashion. Undyne had found them before she’d seen the door, and just shaken her head in amusement, muttering something about knuckleheads under her breath. It was just like that, except, the underlying cause of their laughter was something that made him feel like he wanted to cry at the same time. 

He collapsed into the snow beside his brother, each of them still giving the occasional laugh. He somehow found his voice again. “WE ARE A MESS.”

Sans didn’t miss a beat.  ** *heh. good one, bro. **

He hadn’t intended to make that pun, but there was no point letting on.  “SERIOUSLY, THOUGH. IF THIS IS STRESSING US OUT SO MUCH AFTER JUST ONE TIME…”  But if Sans was right, it hadn’t been just one time. It was just the first time he’d remembered, and been able to confirm the suspicion that something horrible was going on. Was that the change he was seeing in his brother today? Or was it just his own mind paying extra special close attention?

He shifted in the snow, craning his neck to get a look at his brother.

Sans was lying on his back, eyes closed, looking content, to the untrained eye. But The Great Papyrus was an expert at detecting the most minuscule of details, and there had been something in Sans’s laughter that, if not quite broken, had been a little cracked, at least.

** *ow. **

He was instantly on the alert. “WHAT’S WRONG?”

** *i’m lying on something. **

“SO MOVE.”

** *can’t, bro. too tired. **

He sighed as he rolled nimbly to his feet.  “NEVER FEAR, BROTHER. THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS HERE TO RESCUE YOU FROM YOUR OWN SLOTHFULNESS.” 

He pulled Sans to his feet, rolling his eyes when he saw that his brother had been laying on not one, but several pointy, potential puzzle pieces.

Sans put his hands into his pockets, tipping his head to the side. 

Papyrus smiled, and started picking up the pieces again.  “DON’T WORRY, BROTHER. WE’RE ALMOST THERE, AND I’M SURE I CAN MANAGE TO CARRY YOURS AS WELL.” 

The comment sent them snickering again as they scrambled to find the pieces in the snow before they froze in place and became a potential danger to anyone walking though.

A random Snowdin resident passed, shaking their head with a smile at what was probably a ridiculous display, but he could worry about such trivialities later. 

They made it to their destination without further incident, and Sans shot him a hopeful glance.  ***breaktime? **

He shook his head firmly.  “WE HAVE TO FINISH BEFORE THE HUMAN COMES BACK! BESIDES, I AM INTERESTED IN THIS PUZZLE OF YOURS. I HAVE A FEW SMALL SUGGESTIONS TO MAKE IT BETTER… IF THAT’S OKAY?”

Sans shrugged, taking the lack of a break in a stride.  ** *course. you’re the puzzle master around here. **

Sans usually let him work on his puzzles by himself, so it was surprising to discover how easy it was to work with him. He didn’t need to explain nearly as much as he’d have suspected, and it was fun just working along in silence. Sans kept a steady pace, even if his brother’s side was getting finished at a much slower rate than his own.  “THIS IS NICE.”

Sans nodded in agreement.  ***yeah. it’s been a while since we did anything like this. **

They both paused, and he wondered if Sans was wondering if it had really been that long. Then again, for all they knew, there could have been years of ‘resets’ since the last time they’d just worked on a project like this. Somehow, that didn’t bother him as much as the thought of all the things that could have happened. All the moments like these that had been stolen from their memories. Potential friendships that had happened, and if there were so many resets, then it only stood to reason that he had become the most famous member of the royal guard before. Sure, he’d seen that there were a lot of bad things that could have happened, too, but a memory was a memory. If they’d lived it, it didn’t feel right that that should just be… erased, any more than the world should be.

If his brother had been thinking anything of the kind, he didn’t hint at it.  ***i need a piece to connect this section, here. got any ideas? **

Papyrus blinked. “WHY?”

***ta turn it, and activate… ** his voice trailed off and he scratched the back of his head.  ***oops. i didn’t notice you changed that bit. or that one. **

He crossed his arms, feeling defensive.  “YOU WERE TAKING TOO LONG! BESIDES, I CHANGED IT ALL THE WAY UP THROUGH, AND IT”S BETTER THIS WAY. HERE. JUST CONNECT THIS TO THAT PIECE OVER THERE. OH, AND I CAN USE THIS PIECE OVER HERE. SET THAT ON TOP OF THAT ONE… AND, WE NEED MORE PIECES.”

Since they were completely out of anything useful, Sans didn’t have to nod in agreement, but he did anyway. As he turned, his eyes lit up with such a hopeful expression, Papyrus was certain that some brilliant idea was about to be suggested.

** *breaktime? **

Papyrus slapped his own face.  “NO! IT’S BACK FOR MORE PIECES TIME!”

Sans sighed, his enthusiasm for the project seeming to drain out of him. ***ok**

He felt bad that he had to be so firm when Sans was trying to help, but it seemed that his brother needed a reminder of why you couldn’t just drop a task in the middle because of a flimsy excuse like being out of parts. As they walked back through Snowdin, the silence that fell between them wasn’t uncomfortable, but he didn’t miss the wistful glance Sans shot towards Grillby’s as they walked by.

They were on a tight schedule, but… his brother had done extraordinarily well, for Sans standards… 

He stopped short, and Sans crashed into him.  “FINE.”

***huh? **

“GO AHEAD AND GET SOME OF THE GREASY SLOP THAT YOU CALL FOOD. I CAN HANDLE GETTING THE PARTS. BUT TRY NOT TO TAKE TOO LONG, ALRIGHT? I DON’T WANT… YOU HAVE A JOB, TO DO.”

Sans’s grin seemed to widen.  ***thanks, papyrus. you’re the greatest. **

He fought back a grin of his own at the words. Sans really was ridiculously easy to please, and not above trying to use flattery to nudge odds in his favor for next time, however well deserved that flattery might be.

He ignored the twinge of anxiety as Sans closed the door. His brother wasn’t going to run into any humans in there, and knowing Sans, he had plenty of time to get back with the rest of the pieces for the puzzle.


	7. Chapter 7

He’d had every single intention of poking his head into Grillby’s to fetch Sans on the way back, but the closer he got, the less harm he saw in letting his brother take a little bit more of a break. His mind was made up for him when he paused at the door, and heard Sans raising his voice slightly to tell some corny pun over the laughter already building. They all sounded like they were having fun. Besides, he’d found what he’d needed to finish up much faster than he’d thought. Probably because he’d been afraid of running into Undyne, and then being forced to explain why he was crying all over her armor. 

He grimaced at the thought. If his little display of near hysteria was any indication, Sans was the only one he was safe being around right now, and that was just because his brother knew why he kept acting out of sorts.

Trying to relax himself on the brisk walk back, he hummed a guard-ly tune of his own composure. He stopped short as he made it back to the puzzle, because Sans was standing there with two takeout bags, which hardly seemed possible.  “BUT… YOU WERE… SANS, HOW MANY SHORTCUTS DO YOU HAVE, ANYWAY???”

His brother’s cheeky grin widened a bit.  ** *heh, well, let’s just say in the long run, it took less effort to figure out the shortcuts than it’d have taken to go the long way every time i left the house. **

Sheer laziness. Papyrus dismissed it. “I DIDN’T MIND YOU STAYING THERE FOR LONGER, IF YOU WANTED. JUST THIS ONCE.”

Sans winked, holding up the second bag. ** *aw, you just don’t want an order of burg. but you’ll like this; trust me.**

It was likely a prank. Possibly across time and space, even. But Papyrus took the bag and peered inside it anyway, and broke into a delighted grin, despite himself. Inside, was one of his very own containers of spaghetti, steaming hot, with a fork and everything. 

From the slightly smug tone in Sans's voice, his brother was pleased with his reaction. ***had grilbz heat it up for ya. figured even _you_ needed to take a break long enough to get some food into ya.**

“I RESENT THAT REMARK. THE GREAT PAPYRUS TAKES NO BREAKS!!! STILL… YOU DID GO TO THE TROUBLE… YOU’VE PUT ME IN AN AWKWARD POSITION, SANS! IT WOULD BE TERRIBLY RUDE OF ME TO IGNORE THIS GESTURE.”

***not to mention letting that meal of yours go to waste, instead of to waist. **

“SANS! THAT DOESN’T EVEN MAKE SENSE. SKELETONS DON’T GAIN WEIGHT.” Sans just grinned up at him.  “HOWEVER… YOU ARE CORRECT THAT IT WOULD BE WASTEFUL OF ME TO IGNORE THIS MASTERPIECE. BUT ONLY A SHORT BREAK, ALRIGHT?” He brushed some snow of the top of a nearby rock, and sat down.

Sans’s grin seemed to widen as he plopped into the snow, then pulled out a greasy burger that nearly made Papyrus reconsider.  ***oh, almost forgot. here. got you a milk, too. **

'Too' meaning in addition to the spaghetti, and not because Sans had gotten one for himself. Papyrus wondered absently how much of a tab Sans was running in ketchup alone. At least the ketchup was somewhat similar to sauce; both were made from smashed tomatoes, after all. Food-wise, it was one of the few links their personalities shared. Right now, for instance, Sans could have brought back some hotdogs. Hotdogs were much better than greasy hamburgers! Or _two_ meals of spaghetti… his brother had to know that he wouldn’t mind sharing.

He tried not to watch as Sans took a big bite of the sinister sandwich, and focused instead on his spaghetti. Sans managed to chew, and strike up a conversation all while grinning over at him. It almost would have been impressive if he didn’t seem to be concentrating the hardest on the grin.  ***so i get where you’re going with the whole ‘befriend the human’ plan. but i still can’t figure out why this puzzle’s so important to ya.**

Papyrus carefully finished chewing before he answered. Not because he needed the time to think, but because talking with a mouthful of food was rude and disgusting, even if it was spaghetti instead of 98% grease.  “IT’S BECAUSE THESE PUZZLES ARE MEANT TO BE SOLVED WITH TEAMWORK AND FRIENDSHIP. WHEN THE HUMAN COMES THROUGH, I’M GOING TO STOP THEM BY BEING SO GREAT, THEY WILL SEE THE ERROR OF THEIR WAYS, AND STRIVE TO BE MORE LIKE THE GREAT PAPYRUS.”

Sans swallowed before he spoke this time, already following his example, and proving that his plan was foolproof. ** *you really think it’ll be enough? i mean, who wouldn’t want to be more like you, sure. but this human’s gonna have to put a heck of a lot of effort into it. ‘course… i guess that’d be pretty papyrus of them, huh?**

He nodded, beaming.  “OF COURSE! AND I THINK THEY ALREADY FEEL VERY BADLY FOR WHAT THEY’VE DONE. THEY DIDN’T ERASE THE WORLD. SO I SHALL JUST HAVE TO FIND A WAY TO HELP EACH OF THEM. I KNOW THAT CHARA IS HURTING, BUT IF WE CAN FIND OUT WHY THE HUMAN DID WHAT THEY DID, THEN THERE WON'T BE ANY NEED FOR CHARA TO WATCH THEIR FAMILY DIE. OR… ANYONE ELSE TO HAVE TO DO THE SAME.” He stirred his spaghetti with his fork. 

Sans pulled a crumpled note from his pocket.  ***i wonder what’s taking ‘em so long. when’d they show up last time? **

“I’M NOT SURE. THINGS HAPPENED SO FAST… IT WAS JUST A NORMAL DAY, AND THEN THERE WAS A HUMAN, AND… EVERYTHING JUST WENT WRONG. BUT I EXPECT THEY COULD BE HERE ANY MINUTE. SO… PERHAPS… WHEN WE’RE FINISHED EATING, I SHOULD GET OVER TO MY PUZZLE, AND YOU CAN FINISH UP HERE.”

Sans took a large bite, and spent such a long time chewing it, he had to be stalling for time.  ***look, papyrus, you don’t want me near the human. i get it. i’m not real excited about you getting anywhere near ‘em, either.**

"WELL, THAT’S A BIT DIFFERENT.” Or at least, he would have thought it would have been, if he wasn’t coming straight from a timeline where Sans’s fears had been proven to be justified.

Sans picked at the little white seeds on top of his bun, struggling with something.  ** *paps… if i begged ya not to get involved… what would you say? ** It was a simple question, asked in a nonchalant enough sort of voice. But there was a hint of torture in the eyes that refused to meet his.

“BROTHER… EVEN IF THE ENTIRE UNDERGROUND WAS NOT AT STAKE… I COULD NOT JUST STAND ASIDE AND DO NOTHING TO HELP!!!”

Sans nodded.  ** *i figured as much. heh… i guess even _i_ couldn’t do nothing for once. but… let’s try not to think about what hasn’t worked in the past, k? you’re in charge of this one, bro, and i can’t think of anyone i’d rather have calling the shots.**

Papyrus opened his mouth, confidence renewed, when another voice, almost as loud as his own rang out over the snow. “Hey dweebs! What’s all this about Papyrus being in charge?”

“UNDYNE!” Very much alive, from the sounds of it, which, was what he was relying on, since he didn’t dare to turn around.  “WH-WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?” A tremor ran through him at the memory of finding her armor, and he shot a pleading look at his brother, silently begging Sans to _DO_ something!

“Just checking in on the Snowdin sentries. I found the dogs at their stations like expected, but now I’ve found you two having a snack break? Papyrus, I’m surprised at you!” He couldn’t tell if she was more amused to have found him at fault, or disappointed. What if she was disappointed in him??? 

Sans chuckled, not missing a single beat.  ** *you shouldn’t be. we’re taking our lunch break now ‘cause pap worked us right through our actual one to make sure these puzzles were up to date. ** At least his brother could  _think_ fast for someone who was so slow on his feet… wait! That was exactly what happened! Sans hadn’t even bothered to come up with a clever excuse!

“Well in that case… hey, something wrong, Papyrus?”

Oh no! He was tipping her off somehow!  “WH-WHY DO YOU ASK?”

“I was just wondering if I was missing a tooth or something. How come you’re blocking me out like that?”

He watched Sans take another bite of his hamburger. For a split second, his brother’s eyes jerked to the side, not quite at Undyne. What was he trying to…? Oh, drat. Papyrus hadn't even realized was holding his gloved hand up to the side of his head to hide his face from Undyne. 

He took a deep breath as he lowered the hand. He had to think fast. “ I’M NOT MAD AT YOU, UNDYNE… I’M JUST… ASHAMED FOR YOU TO FIND ME LIKE THIS.” Maybe Sans had a point. Maybe the truth worked just as well for an answer than some clever story.  “A FUTURE MEMBER OF THE ROYAL GUARD SHOULDN’T REQUIRE ANY BREAKS AT ALL.”

She let out a loud, spittle-filled laugh, and punched him in the shoulder, nearly knocking him off the rock he was sitting on. “Papyrus, even royal-guardsmen have to eat, you knuckle-knead!” He threw a protective arm over his head at the last two words, making Sans chuckle. 

Once he was certain that there were no noogies forthcoming, he glanced up at Undyne. His friend stood grinning at him. “What was wrong with your old puzzles, anyway? I thought they were pretty impressive.”

Sans nodded in agreement, stuffing the rest of his sandwich in his mouth. Papyrus had to look away again, and that left looking Undyne straight in the face. It wasn’t as hard as he’d imagined, and it was so good to see that grin of hers.  “WELL, THERE’S ALWAYS ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT, EVEN FOR PUZZLES CRAFTED BY THE GREAT PAPYRUS HIMSELF.”

“If you say so. Well, go on ahead and eat your lunch.” She started to walk away, then called back over her shoulder, “Oh, Papyrus, are you still going to come over for your special one on one training later?”

He shot a panicked look at Sans, who oh so helpfully shrugged one shoulder and took a swig of ketchup just to bother him; he could tell by the mischievous twinkle in his sockets.

Cooking lessons… did he have time? There was so much at stake, and…  “I WANT TO, BUT I GUESS IT DEPENDS ON HOW MUCH WE GET DONE… I CAN’T LEAVE HALF-FINISHED PUZZLES HERE, AND… AND…” the human was coming, and he had to be here. But how to tell Undyne? He couldn’t? But how could he turn down her kind offer to train him without hurting her feelings?

***we’ll get it done, pap. and if anything out of the ordinary happens, i’ll let you know straight off.**

There was an unspoken promise of sorts, in his brother’s voice. Sans didn’t like to make promises, especially if there was a chance he couldn’t keep them. But what he was offering him was close enough.  “VERY WELL. IF WE CAN FINISH IN TIME, I'LL LET YOU KNOW.”

She slapped him on the back again. “Naw, just come on over if you can. It’s not like I’ve got anything else going on.”

With that she tossed her spear into the air and caught it, then put her helmet back on, and marched away, her heavy armor making each footstep loud and imposing. He sighed in admiration after she left.  “I WONDER IF I’LL EVER BE THAT COOL?”

** *are you kiddin’? you already are, paps.**

“REALLY?” Wait… what was he doing?  “SANS… I APPRECIATE THE OFFER, BUT…”

Sans quietly dropped the half-full ketchup bottle into the paper bag, and stood up, brushing the snow off of his shorts. ** *i already said that i’m with ya on this. if your plan is to appeal to this kid’s need for friendship, you oughta be the first to talk to ‘em. but you’re pretty stressed out right now. undyne’s lessons always make you feel better. i don’t think you should skip it. **

That... was an exellent point, actually. He was a BIT tense. But...“CAN YOU PROMISE ME THAT YOU WON’T TRY TO STOP THE HUMAN ON YOUR OWN BEFORE YOU COME TO GET ME???”

Sans kept his back turned, In fact, he didn’t move at all for a long moment. Finally he let out a sigh. ** *yeah. i can promise that. **

They both turned back to the puzzle, not looking at each other. He wished he could ask Sans to promise not to fight the human at _all_. But he knew, deep down, that his brother couldn’t promise that anyway.

He was afraid that it had ruined their nice afternoon of building puzzles together, but when Sans turned to face him, he looked as cheerful and carefree as ever.  ** *so has this entire puzzle been enhanced to involve x’s and o’s, or is that just this part? **

It was… rather disturbing, actually, to find that his brother was so good at hiding something of this magnitude. He couldn’t help but wonder if he really knew Sans as well as he’d always thought.  “ARE YOU REALLY GOING TO HELP ME WITH MY OTHER PUZZLES, TOO?”

** * i said i would, didn’t i? ‘course… ‘help’ is a subjective word. i might just supervise ya through most of it. **

He rolled his eyes with a wry smile.  “I MIGHT HAVE EXPECTED AS MUCH FROM SUCH A LAZYBONES.” 

Sans responded with his usual wink, as if it were a compliment. ** *hey, you aren’t the only one with a reputation to think about.**

“SANS, WHAT PART OF THIS SO CALLED ‘REPUTATION’ OF YOURS COULD BE IMPORTANT ENOUGH FOR YOU TO WORRY ABOUT?”

** *hey, it’s a little known fact, but there’s one thing i’m good at.**

He frowned. There were  _ lots _ of things that Sans was good at. He worried, sometimes, that living in the shadow of the Great Papyrus was discouraging to his brother at times. Still, he sensed that his brother was trying to get him to play into his hands, and he wasn’t about to disappoint him.  “AND WHAT MIGHT THAT BE? IF YOU’RE ABOUT TO SAY ‘NAPPING’ OR ‘SLACKING OFF’ I WILL AGREE WITH YOU FULL-HEARTEDLY.”

** * naw, bro. it’s my _skelepuns._**

How many times had he heard THAT one? He turned to shoot his brother an annoyed look, and tried not to let it get to him that Sans was grinning just like he had the first time he’d worked that word into a conversation. When Sans chuckled, he knew he’d failed. 


	8. Chapter 8

“Papyrus, you’ve come a long way from when you used to pet the vegetables, but I really need you to smash harder, okay? Use a bone attack, and really SMASH them!”

“IF YOU SAY SO.” It seemed to him that the more force he used, the less… anything, actually ended up in the pan. But if this was the way the masters made spaghetti, then this was the way he was going to have to try harder to understand. 

He prepared a bone attack, and launched it, careful to angle it so as not to punch a hole in Undyne’s wall… another hole, anyway. The kitchen walls seemed to be more patches than original wall. In fact, everything in Undyne’s house looked more patches than original except for her piano, and sword.

She let out a gleeful laugh as the vegetables exploded on impact. “That’s the way! Wow! There’s nothing left! Way to go, Papyrus!” 

He smiled, but he couldn’t put much effort into it. 

“Alright, Papyrus, spill it. What’s wrong with you today?”

He really couldn’t answer. He wasn’t sure why he was so anxious. Sans had promised that he’d come get him the very minute the human showed up. He wasn’t sure that was possible, given how slowly his brother moved, and how far Undyne’s house was from Snowdin, but that was beside the point.

Undyne smiled down at the splattered floor. “Aw, come on, Papyrus. Whatever it is, you can tell me. I’ve never seen you so down… I didn’t even know you _had_ a sad mode.”

More truth. That way, he wouldn’t have to lie, and feel guilty about that. But maybe he didn’t have to say that he was worried that a certain brother might be sleeping at his post with dangerous humans around.  “HOW LONG DO YOU THINK IT WILL BE BEFORE I’M ALLOWED IN THE ROYAL GUARD?”

Guilt? Was that guilt in Undyne’s expression? It was! She looked guilty. Which could only mean…

That she felt badly for not making him an official guard already! This wasn’t the result he’d wanted at all! He hastened to reassure her.  “NEVER MIND. I UNDERSTAND.”

Undyne was so overcome with despair at her dilemma, there was a tiny little catch in her voice. “Y-you do?”

It nearly brought tears to his eyes, and these tears had nothing to do with his horrible walk through the Underground. It was so kind of her to feel so deeply about this.  “OF COURSE!!! THERE MUST BE VERY STRICT RULES YOU HAVE TO FOLLOW. AFTER ALL, YOU CAN’T LET JUST ANYONE BE A MEMBER OF THE ROYAL GUARD. AND YOU CANNOT SIMPLY MAKE AN EXCEPTION, AND MAKE ME A MEMBER JUST BECAUSE I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS. YOU HAVE TO PUT ME THROUGH THE SAME TESTING THAT YOU WOULD FOR ANYONE!!! I WOULDN’T EXPECT YOU TO DO ANYTHING LESS!!! NYEH HEH HEH!!!”

She was overcome with relief. “Wow, you, um, you sure can see right through me, can’t you? Of course I can’t give you special treatment.”

He began to scrape the vegetable splatter into a bowl, and a horrible thought occurred to him. He turned around.  “DOES THAT MEAN THAT YOU CAN’T TRAIN ME ANYMORE?”

“NO! That… um, you already passed that part of the test. Yeah. You’re tough as nails, Papyrus. I’m not just training you ‘cause we’re pals, either. You’re actually one of the few monsters in the Underground that I can have a real spar with, and not worry about crushing. It’s other boring stuff that’s gonna take time. Who knows? You might even decide to give up being a royal guard at all, and become a famous master chef instead, or something…”

“THAT’S SILLY! WHOEVER SAID THAT I CANNOT BE BOTH?”

She sighed. Perhaps in wistful admiration? Maybe that was stretching it. He didn’t understand the sigh. “Right. Let’s get that spaghetti boiling.”

~*~*~

Papyrus smiled as he walked home. The lesson had relaxed him considerably. He’d insisted that Undyne keep most of the spaghetti that they’d made. He just wanted a little container to compare to his other masterpieces. 

All in all, that had gone well. Only a few things had caught on fire this time! He’d heroically put out the fires, and Undyne had thanked him, even though she looked almost disappointed at the lack of total destruction of her own home. Or maybe she’d just been sad that the lesson was over. He would have stayed longer than it took to clean up, but, he was concerned over the lack of news from Sans.

He tried not to think about it as he headed back to the sentry station. He trusted his brother’s promise, but…  _“He fell ASLEEP in the middle of the battle!”_

Papyrus was a terrible brother! How could he have left Sans alone for so long? The excitement of possibly someday being a royal guardsman, or meeting a human had never been enough to keep his brother awake, and Sans would be exhausted after helping him finish all those puzzles on time! If the human came through, and found him asleep…

He broke into a run, and didn’t stop until he saw the station, and, more importantly, his brother, propped up against it.  ** *everything ok, bro? **

Sans was… awake? That was one of the strangest things to happen since the human sent him back.

The concern in his brother’s eyes morphed as Papyrus walked closer, scrutinizing him.

***what?**

“WHO ARE YOU, AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH SANS?”

His brother broke into a relieved chuckle. ***c’mon, paps, give me a little credit. i promised ya i’d watch out for a potentially dangerous human that should have been here hours ago. i wasn’t gonna let you down.**

He supposed that the circumstances were a bit different, and he felt badly for saying anything, because Sans actually looked a little hurt. “OH. RIGHT. OF COURSE NOT!!! IT’S JUST… IT’S BEEN A LONG DAY, AND I WAS STARTING TO FEEL LIKE TAKING A NAP, MYSELF AND…”

***and i’ve got a bad track record. don’t sweat it, pap. **

“SO… WHAT DO WE DO NOW? I MEAN, NORMALLY, THE NIGHT GUARDS TAKE OVER AT THEIR STATIONS, BUT TONIGHT…”

** *i was thinking about that. i don’t remember any dreams about the kid making an appearance at night, but it’s your call. **

“I CAN’T RISK, IT. SANS. WHAT IF SOMETHING HAPPENED? BESIDES, I FEEL MUCH MORE AWAKE AFTER RUNNING HERE. YOU GO ON HOME, AND TAKE ONE OF YOUR ALL NIGHT NAPS. YOU’VE EARNED IT, BROTHER.”  And he meant that.

Sans’s smile softened around the eyes, but he didn’t move. ***thanks. but if you’re gonna stick it out, i’ll keep ya company. can’t guarantee i’ll me able to stay up all night, but at least i could spot ya, or somethin’. **

He felt like he should insist that Sans had done enough, but he didn’t want to hurt his feelings again. Besides, standing watch all night alone in the woods that were already darkening, really didn’t sound all that pleasant, and he’d appreciate the company. “IF YOU’RE SURE… I’D APPRECIATE THE COMPANY. EVEN IF YOU ARE ASLEEP.”

***sure i'm sure, i'm sure.** Sans winked, and patted the snow beside him. ***so have a seat. somethin’ tells me this is gonna be a long, uneventful night.**

The snow crunched as he settled down beside his brother, sitting with his arm resting on one knee instead of slumping against the sentry station. “WHY?”

** *don’t know. ‘s just a feeling. something’s wrong. i’m starting to think that the human did more than just send ya back to _"reset"_. **

They fell silent, thinking about it. At least, he was thinking about it. In only a short hour and a half, Sans’s head drooped to the side, and he noticed that his brother’s breathing was heavy.

No human. And he’d have to face the impossible task of waking his brother if he wanted to talk. Oh well. He decided to let Sans sleep.

In fact, a nap didn’t sound like such a bad idea, except that he was the only thing standing in between the entire Underground and a human that might want to go on another, or, the same killing spree as before.

His eyes were starting to droop when something heavy clunked against him, startling him back to full sentry mode even though it was just Sans. Papyrus put his arm around his brother, and tried not to let the comfort of his presence lull him into a false sense of security. He only closed his eyes for a second…

But when he opened them again, it was morning. “NYEH!” He leapt to his feet, and behind him, Sans toppled face first into the snow.  ** *whatzit?! papyrus?  ** he rubbed his face, calming down when he saw the quite scene in front of him.  ** *guess i dozed off. sorry, bro. **

His brother was acting like he’d caught him sleeping on the job on a normal day. “SANS! I FELL ASLEEP, TOO! THE HUMAN COULD HAVE WALKED RIGHT PAST US, OR…” Or not walked right past them. Sans had trusted him not to fall asleep! The whole  Underground had been depending on him, and he…

***whoa, easy, bro. calm down, kay? look. no footprints or nothin’. the human hasn’t been here. it’s fine. **

“IT’S NOT FINE!!! WHERE COULD THE HUMAN BE?”

** *don’t know. but i’ve got a thing i can check. wait here a sec, k? **

“WHAT THING?” He tried to follow Sans, but his brother was somehow already out of sight. He came back in a few minutes.  “I HATE THOSE SHORTCUTS OF YOURS.”

** *no humans in the underground. not yet, anyway. i’ve got a reliable source. which pretty much confirms it. **

“CONFIRMS WHAT?”

Sans gave him a long look, and the corners of his sockets were pinched in the way that they got when Sans was worried about something he wouldn’t talk about.  ** *something’s wrong. you said you’re the one who reset this time, right? **

“YES???”

***so what if the human _can’t_?**


	9. Chapter 9

Frisk continued to cry. All those memories… those hauntingly happy memories from previous timelines… all destroyed by the horrors that had just been committed. All those warnings! Why, WHY hadn’t they listened in time! WHY had it been SO important to see what would happen? When had curiosity become more important than friends?

There was a strange sound, and Frisk looked up to see two familiar figures coming closer. It probably wasn’t a good sign that they were here, but at least they were together. At least that one, small bit of good was there to reward them for choosing not to give in to Chara’s demands at the last second.

“SANS! THAT DID IT! HELLO AGAIN, HUMAN! DO NOT CRY.”

Sans stayed back, and shoved his hands in the pockets of his hoodie while Papyrus stooped to pick up the confused human. “What… what are you doing here? Don’t you understand? I gave you my determination… you have control, now.”

Papyrus nodded. “THAT’S WHAT SANS FIGURED OUT. AND YOU GOT PUSHED OUT OF THE RESET, SO WE HAD TO COME HERE, LOOKING FOR YOU. SANS KNEW SOME SHORTCUTS. IT TOOK A WHILE, AND WE MADE A LOT OF WRONG TURNS, BUT THE IMPORTANT THING IS, HERE WE ARE???”

Frisk looked over Papyrus’s shoulder at his brother, who didn’t look quite so forgiving. “I don’t understand… I can’t hurt anyone from here. Why’d you come back for me?”

“BECAUSE I WAS RIGHT! DON’T YOU SEE? YOU _DID_ DO BETTER! YOU COULD HAVE HELPED TO ERASE EVERYTHING, BUT YOU DIDN’T! YOU SAVED ME, INSTEAD, AND THE GREAT PAPYRUS WAS ABLE TO GET THROUGH TO CHARA, AND WIN A SECOND CHANCE FOR US ALL!”

Frisk was still having a stare out with Sans. The shorter skeleton closed his eyes and let out a sigh, then opened them again, seemingly setting everything behind them.  ** *hey, kid. **

“Sans, I… I’m sorry…”

The whites of his eyes disappeared for a second as the shorted skeleton fought to keep control, then they reappeared, focusing on his brother, and he just gave a lazy shrug.  ** *ok, kiddo. now then, where was it that you first entered the underground, exactly? **

“Where? Um, inside the ruins… on a patch of yellow flowers. There was a corridor that led into the actual ruins themselves, I guess. Why?”

Papyrus walked back over to his brother, Frisk still held securely in his arms, and they both started walking back the way they’d come.  “BECAUSE, I WAS STARTING TO GET THROUGH TO THIS CHARA PERSON, AND I JUST KNOW THEY CAN BE A GOOD PERSON, IF THEY’RE JUST SHOWN A LITTLE KINDNESS, INSTEAD OF MURDER-Y INTENT!”

That startled a laugh out of Frisk, and the human hugged Papyrus tightly. “You’re the perfect person for the job. Don’t worry, you guys. This is it… I promise. No killing. And no more resets. Neither one of you is ever going to have to deal with my ‘murder-y intent’, ever again.”

Papyrus nodded.  “I BELIEVE IN YOU.”

“I… I know.”

Frisk glanced over at Sans, but he clearly wasn’t as ready to forgive and forget. It seemed strange that even Papyrus was able to, considering.

Suddenly, they were standing next to the patch of flowers in the Underground. ** *heh. never been here before. **

“ALRIGHT, HUMAN, WE’RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HERE. SANS SAYS THAT WE CAN ONLY RISK MESSING WITH THE SPACE-TIME CONTINUUM SO MUCH, WHATEVER THAT IS. BUT WE’LL BE WAITING FOR YOU TO GET TO SNOWDIN. REMEMBER… NO KILLING, ALRIGHT?”

“I promise.”

The two brothers walked the wrong way, and vanished. Frisk looked around, suddenly dreading the task ahead. What if Papyrus still had the power to reset? What if he had the power to save, too? What if that’s where every last ounce of Frisk’s own determination had gone? If that was the case then… one mistake too many, and it was, well, game over.

That somehow put a whole new spin on the phrase ‘kill or be killed’.

…***…***…***

After all the shortcuts Sans had taken him on, Papyrus wasn’t a bit surprised to start to walk into a wall, and end up back at their house.

Well, maybe to be at the house, instead of the sentry station.  “UM, SANS?”

His brother was muttering something under his breath, and it wasn’t very friendly. “SANS! THE HUMAN PROMISED TO TRY BETTER THIS TIME!”

** *yeah… sorry, pap. i just wasn’t expecting… even though i probably should have been… those were the ruins. at least… i think they were. they’ve been sealed from the inside for a long time, and if we were where i think we were, then there’s someone i know there. **

“BUT HOW CAN YOU KNOW SOMEONE THERE IF YOU’VE NEVER BEEN, AND THEY’RE SEALED?”

***you know that old door in the forest? **

Uh oh.  “NOT THE ONE THAT YOU PRACTICE YOUR KNOCK-KNOCK JOKES ON…”

***that’s the one. there’s this nice lady on the other side and…**

“SANS! IT’S BAD ENOUGH THAT YOU’VE BEEN SLACKING OFF, BUT TO BOTHER A KIND LADY IN THE WOODS IS ANOTHER MATTER ENTIRELY! I’M SURPRISED AT YOU!”

** *she likes the lousy puns, paps. she’s real lonely, and we tell jokes through the door. **

Oh. “ARE- ARE YOU LONELY, SANS?”

Sans blinked once at the question. ***course not. i’ve got you, don’t i? but i don’t think she’s got anyone, and… if the kid started there, and killed everyone… **

“SANS…”

** *the thing is, if it happens again, i just made it possible. i don’t think that’s something i’m used to dealing with. **

“BROTHER, STOP THIS INSTANT! THE HUMAN IS NOT GOING TO KILL ANOTHER MONSTER, THEY PROMISED!!! THEY’RE NOT GOING TO KILL YOUR NICE FRIEND, AND THEY’RE NOT GOING TO KILL UNDYNE, OR YOU, OR THE KING, OR ANY OF THE OTHER MONSTERS.”

Sans asked quietly,  ** *what about you? **

He ignored the hint of a reminder that believing in the human maybe hadn’t worked out all that well last time. “I AM GOING TO STOP THEM FROM DOING ANY OF THAT. BUT DO NOT WORRY. I DO BELIEVE IN THE HUMAN, AND I THINK THEY CAN CHANGE FOR THE BETTER.”

Sans sighed. ** *ok.**

“LET’S GET BACK OUT THERE TO WAIT AGAIN. AT LEAST WE KNOW THAT THE HUMAN’S COMING THIS TIME.”

** *right. um… pap? **

“YES, BROTHER?”

** *you got some kind of plan to protect the kid if everything does go right? **

“EVERYTHING _WILL_ GO RIGHT, AND WHY WOULD I NEED TO PROTECT THE HUMAN IF THEY’RE SO DANGEROUS?”

** *don’t you remember about… right. crap. **

“ABOUT WHAT, SANS?”

Another sigh, but this one was wearier.  ** *i guess i never did tell ya about what the king had to do to break the barrier. **

“WHY NOT?”

*** ‘cause i didn’t want you to have to live with that burden. the thing of it is, paps, he needs one more human soul.**

He winced. “YOU MEAN… HE HAS OTHERS? F-FROM THE WAR?”

** *from other humans who ended up down here at some time or other. **

The king? The very kindest, gentlest, most wise monster in the Underground? “BUT… SANS… YOU DIDN’T… YOU COULDN’T HAVE HELPED … DID YOU?”

** *heh, that was way before our time, buddy. i may have met a human more times than i remember, but it’s been the same one. still… after what that human’s done… yeah. i think it’s safe to say that i made ‘em reset a few times. quite a few. **

“SANS!” He stepped back in shock. But to fight the human would have been more than just self-defense. His brother had been defending time itself. “BUT, IF YOU ...KILLED... THE HUMAN, WHY WOULDN’T YOU HAVE BROUGHT THE SOUL TO THE KING?”

His brother gave him a strange look, and a dry laugh. ** *riiiight… ‘cause after losing you, i’d be totally fine just waltzing into a new life on the surface. no. i wouldn’t fight to break the stupid barrier. i couldn’t care less. but if there was a chance that the human would reset, not end the world, and bring you back? you’d better believe i’d send the little brat to the reset point as hard and as often as i could. **

Sans’s eyes had gone completely black. Papyrus put his hand on his brother’s tense shoulder.  “CALM DOWN. THE HUMAN ISN’T GOING TO TRY ANYTHING. I KNOW YOU CAN’T TRUST THEM, BUT… TRUST ME, OKAY?”

His brother blinked, and the look was replaced with a weary one that was much more familiar, if even more troubling.

** *… ok…. pap, i… darnit… about all that, i… **

“THERE’S NO NEED TO EXPLAIN IT TO ME, BROTHER.” But maybe Sans needed to hear a reassurance after… that. “YOU DON’T HAVE MURDERY INTENT, SANS. DON’T YOU REMEMBER WHO TAUGHT ME ABOUT MERCY, AND LEVELS OF VIOLENCE? I TRUST THAT WHATEVER YOU DID, YOU DID FOR THE RIGHT REASONS. I FOUND WHERE YOU FOUGHT THE HUMAN, AND IT WAS ALL THE WAY AT THE CASTLE. I KNOW YOU ONLY FOUGHT WHEN THERE WAS NO OTHER WAY, AND I’M PROUD OF YOU, EVEN THOUGH IT NEVER TECHNICALLY HAPPENED???”

** *paps… **

“COME. LET’S PUT THIS MESSY TALK BEHIND US, ONCE AND FOR ALL. WE SHALL BEFRIEND THE HUMAN, AND THEN, WE SHALL PROTECT THEM FROM ALL WHO WISH TO DO THEM HARM!!! YOU’RE STILL WITH ME, RIGHT?”

** *yeah. of course i am. **

“THEN WE SHOULD GET TO THAT DOOR, AND MAKE SURE YOUR FRIEND IS OKAY.”


	10. Chapter 10

There was so much to worry about! But he could handle it all. He’d keep both the human  _and_ the Underground safe, because it wasn’t fair to ask the human to be good if the monsters were going to do something horrible to them!

Before he could give the matter any more thought, or figure out how he was actually going to do either of those things, the door opened, and the human walked out, looking very sad for someone doing the right thing. He could feel the sweat beading up on his skull.  “UM… HUMAN? YOU DIDN’T FORGET TO NOT KILL ANYONE DID YOU?”

The child blinked, as if surprised to find the two of them standing there for some reason, then broke into a warm smile. “No. Everyone’s fine. I’m just sad to leave her.”

He gave a relieved sigh. One less thing to worry about. Ever since talking to Sans, he’d been panicking about possibly making the wrong choice in leaving the human alone.  “GOOD FOR YOU! I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT. NOW, I HAVE SOMETHING TO TELL YOU.”

He stooped down to the human’s eye level.  "SANS EXPLAINED TO ME ABOUT WHAT THE MONSTERS ARE AFTER, AND I CAN’T BLAME YOU FOR BEING SCARED. I MYSELF MUST’VE SEEMED VERY IMPOSING WHEN YOU BELIEVED THAT I WAS GOING TO KILL YOU. BUT WE’RE RUNNING SHORT ON TIME, AND SO, YOU’LL JUST HAVE TO EXPLAIN YOUR SIDE OF THE STORY TO US WHILE WE GO TO THE PUZZLES. AND I HAVE A SURPRISE FOR YOU! YOU DIDN’T SEEM TO LIKE THE PUZZLES LAST TIME, SO WE PUT OUT NEW PUZZLES! EVEN SANS MADE ONE! NYEH, HEH, HEH!”

He took the human’s little hand in his glove, and let them through the woods.  “HERE. NOW WAIT RIGHT BY THIS ROCK, WHILE I CHECK THE PUZZLE ONE LAST TIME.” Oops, he hadn’t given the human a chance to talk. He’d been too excited about the puzzles. Oh well, there was always next puzzle. 

Behind him, he heard the human’s hesitant voice. “I really didn’t hurt anyone. This time.” Couldn’t his brother hear the sincerity and regret in the voice?

***i know, kid.**

“How… oh, right. My L.O.V.E. It’s gonna stay at 1, Sans. If it kills me.”

“NONSENSE! WE ARE NOT GOING TO LET ANYTHING HAPPEN TO YOU, ARE WE, SANS? IF THEY WANT YOUR SOUL, THEY’LL HAVE TO BEST THE GREAT PAPYRUS!! NYEH HEH HEH!!!”

The child fidgeted. “I practically owe it to them, after what I did. Especially to you two.”

He started to wave the harsh comment away, but Sans spoke first. He was already at eye level, so he didn’t even have to move.  ** *you might feel worse about what you did to us, for whatever reason, but i don’t think any of this would have been any better if you’d left us out of it. not for the underground, in any case. **

Tears welled up in the human’s eyes, and he wanted to fix it, but the tone of voice Sans was using stopped him. It was that calm, ‘no arguing, think about what you did voice’, and it affected people.  ** *that being said, i think it’s safe to say that you’ve learned that not even your special reset powers can change the past. couldn’t get rid of your own memories, could ya. **

A tear ran down the human’s face as they shook their head. 

** *you might have erased our memories, but even those have ways of lingering behind. the bad memories, sure, but an awful lot of good memories, too. you really are an anomaly, aren’t ya, kid? **

“I was just curious. I never wanted to erase you all forever. I was going to make up for it by freeing you all.”

Sans winced.  ** *make up for killing us all? what, is that a thing humans do? hurt someone really bad, and make it go away with a nice gift? **

“Well… some people, I guess. But then I couldn’t. Because of Chara.”

He had to put a stop to this. Sans’s reflective voice was working alright, but it was time to add his stern voice, because yet another injustice was being committed, and he could not allow it! He crossed his arms and remained standing as he was, towering over the child.  “HUMAN, YOU'RE BEING VERY QUICK TO ASSIGN THE BLAME TO CHARA. BUT DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHY THEY WANTED TO ERASE THE WORLD?”

“Because they’re evil incarnate?”

The human really didn’t seem to know. In that case, full-blown lazy brother was too high a setting. He toned his stern voice back a few notches.  “TO STOP YOU.”

“W-what?”

“CHARA IS VERY MIXED UP ABOUT MANY THINGS, BUT THEY HATED WATCHING THE FAMILY THAT WAS SO DEAR TO THEM GET HURT.”

“How can you be on _their_ side? They were going to delete the whole world, like it never existed.”

He toned his voice back to 'stern but gentle reminder', and stooped down to eye level.  “AND AS WRONG AS THAT WAS, CHARA BELIEVED THAT IT WAS A BETTER FATE FOR US ALL.”

“Than being happy?”

** *than being jerked through timelines at the ‘mercy’ of your whims. **

He ignored the pun because, while he was sure Sans was fully aware of the double meaning, it was serious enough to let slip. Sans didn’t need an over-reaction from him right now, and neither did the human. “ SO YOU SEE, YOU TWO COULD BLAME EACH OTHER FOR THE REST OF ALL TIME, AND IT WOULDN’T SOLVE ANYTHING. YOU COULD ALWAYS ARGUE THAT CHARA WAS WORSE. CHARA COULD ALWAYS SAY THAT THEY JUST WANTED TO SAVE THE MONSTERS FROM BEING KILLED ANY MORE TIMES. BUT THE TRUTH IS, YOU’RE BOTH WRONG, AND YOU BOTH PLAYED A PART IN THIS. WITH THESE POWERS OF YOURS, YOU HAD A… A…”

** *responsibility. **

“YES! EXACTLY. YOU HAD A RESPONSIBILITY TO DO YOUR BEST. EVEN IF THE MONSTERS WERE WRONG, TOO. I WANTED TO CAPTURE A HUMAN, JUST TO FULFILL MY OWN DREAMS, WITHOUT BOTHERING TO FIND OUT WHAT THEY EVEN WANTED THE HUMAN FOR. IT DOESN’T MATTER THAT YOU WERE KILLING EVERYONE, I BELIEVE I WOULD HAVE TRIED TO CAPTURE YOU ANYWAY. AND FOR THAT I AM DEEPLY…”

“Don’t!”  Two hands shot out, and covered his mouth. Tears were streaming down the child’s face now. “Please… don’t you dare apologize to me, Papyrus. When I fought you, it, it was never because I was afraid of you. You… you were the only monster in the whole Underground who wouldn’t kill me, no matter what. I didn’t even have to beat you to get past you. You couldn’t bear to keep fighting me. I… I’ve done terrible things, and you’re right. It wasn’t all Chara. It wasn’t Chara that forced me to k-kill you. I- I made that choice.”

The human began to sob, and Papyrus chose to act with a healing hug. He looked over the child’s shoulder to his brother, and was delighted to find that Sans’s eyes had softened. He was starting to believe in the human, too, despite himself.

“FEAR NOT, HUMAN. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, SHALL TEACH YOU EVERYTHING I KNOW OF MERCY.”

“Y-yeah. You’ve already taught me, a lot.”

“IT’S SETTLED THEN! WE SHALL ASSIST YOU THROUGH THE UNDERGROUND.”

“Please? I’m not royal, but I can’t think of a better guard to have. I won’t have to be scared, with you there to protect me.”

“WOWIE!” He felt his face flush, and was powerless to stop it; even though such compliments were only to be expected for someone of his greatness, it was a true but ironic fact that his brother was one of the two people who ever bothered to utter them out loud. He appreciated it from Sans and Undyne, but it was extra special to hear from someone who hadn’t known him for a very long time.  “I MEAN, NATURALLY! HUM… ER, DO YOU HAVE A NAME, HUMAN?”

“Yeah. I’m Frisk. But I don’t mind if you call me human. It’s okay.”

“WELL, HUMAN, UM, FRISK, THIS IS YOUR FIRST PUZZLE. AND YOU PASSED IT WITH FLYING COLORS! YOU SEE, TO SOLVE THIS PUZZLE, YOU HAD TO UNDERSTAND THE VALUE OF FRIENDSHIP, AND MERCY, AND TAKING THE BLAME TO CHANGE THE X’S TO O’S, AND LOOK!”  He quickly walked across the three X’s, changing them to O’S. “YOU SEE? I AM HELPING YOU ALREADY! ON TO THE NEXT PUZZLE!”

The electricity maze was… pretty much the same.  “WORRY NOT, HUMAN. THE LESSON HERE IS THAT WE ARE FRIENDS, AND I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL FIGURE IT OUT FOR YOU! NOW… LET’S SEE… WHAT DID I CHANGE IT TO?”

** *um… maybe we just oughta turn it off, huh? **

“AND NOT SOLVE IT, SANS?”

The human spoke up hesitantly. “Um… I have an idea…”

They turned, and watched Frisk walk around the puzzle. Which was practically cheating, and yet…  “AN INVENTIVE SOLUTION AND NOBODY GOT HURT! YES! THAT WAS THE TRUE TEST OF THIS PUZZLE! NYEH, HEH, HEH! AND NOW, ON TO THE NEXT PUZZLE! SANS MADE THIS ONE.”


	11. Chapter 11

Papyrus was a little nervous about the next puzzle, but he was trying not to be. Sans had agreed that his modifications had made it cooler than ever, and it seemed that they had gotten through to Frisk already. Still, they had never tested Sans’s puzzle… they’d been trying to get everything done before his cooking lesson. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that he didn’t even know what the point of it was.

“SEE, HU-FRISK! THIS PUZZLE IS MUCH MORE IMPRESSIVE THAN THE LAST ONE, ISN’T IT? IT’S NOT EVEN ON A PIECE OF PAPER!”

Frisk looked at the puzzle, and took note of the awesome x’s that were involved. It was obviously such an improvement, that it filled the human with glee, because he was certain he heard a stifled giggle as Frisk shot a look at Sans, and puzzles were no laughing matter.

“ALRIGHT, BROTHER. PERHAPS YOU SHOULD EXPLAIN YOUR NEW PUZZLE TO FRISK.”

Sans winked at the human with his right eye, and they both seemed taken aback at that.  ** *heh, well, nevermind. this puzzle is a maze. **

“WOWIE! IT IS? BUT… IT’S NOT REALLY BIG ENOUGH FOR THAT, HOW…”

Sans chuckled as he handed Frisk a marble. Frisk stared at it, then smiled at his brother, and walked up to the ‘maze’ and carefully set the marble at the top. It instantly started to roll, picking up speed as it worked its way through the maze Sans had designed, and over the x’s he’d incorporated, turning them into o’s, all… by, itself… the puzzle, solved itself?! 

He continued to stare at it in shock as Sans walked past him, hands stuffed deep in his pockets.  ** *welp, looks like the kid solved it. on to the next one. **

“BUT… BUT SANS… WHAT ABOUT AN IMPORTANT LIFE LESSON?”

Sans turned, and scratched the back of his skull.  ** *um, sometimes things appear harder to solve than they actually are? **

“FAIR ENOUGH…”  He took a few steps away from Frisk, and whispered to his brother,  “YOU CAME UP WITH THAT RIGHT THIS MOMENT!!!”

Sans shrugged, not even bothering to defend himself.  “SANS! IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT WE TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY! I THOUGHT YOU WERE TAKING THIS SERIOUSLY! HOW IS FRISK SUPPOSED TO UNDERSTAND THAT I… ” a giggle stopped him cold. Sans was listening patiently, so that meant… 

He turned.  “HUMAN! DON’T YOU KNOW IT’S RUDE TO EAVESDROP!”

Frisk started to laugh out loud, and Sans snickered behind him.  ** *pfft, look, kid, you know i’m rootin’ for ya, right? no matter what happens. and pap… i am taking this seriously. **

He wasn’t sure what they found so humorous, and it was no laughing matter! But at least Sans looked serious now, and so did Frisk and… oh no. They’d both been happy a moment ago, sharing a laugh over something. Something silly, and obviously pointless because it went over his head, but he’d just dragged them back into the truth! That wasn’t a nice thing to teach the human at all! Sans’s made up lesson for his puzzle that solved itself was better than that! He covered his face to hide his shame, and felt his brother’s hand close around his arm almost instantly.

** *whoa… papyrus, look at me. i’ll stop, okay? no more puns. **

What?! No more puns?! That’s what he’d been facing back in the void, and in that terrible hallway! How could Sans possibly think that he actually wanted to live in a world without…

** *’course, with my ‘track’ record, i really can’t make any promises. sometimes i need a joke just to ‘get the ball rollin’. **

Oh thank goodness!  “SANS… THAT WAS TERRIBLE. EVEN BY YOUR STANDARDS. IT WASN’T EVEN CLEVER.”

Sans winked at him, the left eye this time, like usual.  ** *how could it be? we were all out of levers. **

Wow, his brother’s material was wearing thin today.  “SANS!”

Muffled giggles erupted from Frisk, so he added to the effect by stomping towards the next puzzle, smiling to himself. It was a strange game, maybe, but it had become their thing, over the years. Sans had always liked it when people laughed at his jokes, but he always got that special twinkle in his eyes when he got the reaction he was looking for.

It was there when his brother trudged up behind him, hands in his pockets, grinning away. 

Frisk seemed happy, but kept glancing around, as if in a hurry. Hmm, he supposed that this was going rather slowly, and they did have a lot more puzzles to get past. This was the most difficult. He’d tried, and tried to come up with an improvement, but this puzzle just… he hoped it wouldn’t stall the human for too long.

Frisk stopped short, glancing up at him, then worriedly back to the puzzle, concerned for the length of time this was going to take, no doubt.

Sans walked behind the microwave and picked up the cord, grinning at it the end of it.

“I’d like some, but, I need to save it for you, Papyrus.”

“WHY, THAT IS SUCH A THOUGHTFUL, FRIENDLY GESTURE! WELL DONE, FRISK! AND WORRY NOT! I SHALL MAKE YOU SPAGHETTI WHENEVER YOU WISH! BUT PERHAPS IT’S BEST TO MOVE ON FOR NOW.”

** *heh, this’d ‘eat up’ too much time, anyway. **

“SANS! LITERALLY EVERYTHING YOU’VE SAID AFTER NO MORE PUNS, HAVE ALL BEEN PUNS!”

Frisk laughed as they moved along to the next puzzle.

“WAIT… SANS! YOU SAID YOU’D TAKE CARE OF THIS PUZZLE!”

** *i did. nobody solved it, so it didn’t need to be reset. **

“BUT I WANTED TO CHANGE ALL THE PUZZLES! FRISK…” He frowned, and glanced at Frisk, who took that as a cue to go find the map burried in the snow that revieled the location of the switch. Relieved, he started to whisper again.  “FRISK IS GOING TO THINK THAT WE DON’T CARE ABOUT THEM!”

“I couldn’t ever think that, Papyrus.”

“HOW DID YOU EVEN HEAR THAT?!!? YOU’RE WAY DOWN THERE, AND THAT WAS MY QUIETEST WHISPER!”

Sans chuckled.  ** *it’s true. that’s as quiet as he gets. **

“WHICH IS VERY, VERY QUIET! BUT LET THAT BE A LESSON TO YOU. EVEN IF ONE OF US IS ONLY PUTTING IN THE SMALLEST AMOUNT OF EFFORT REQUIRED, WE BOTH CARE ABOUT YOU. SAY IT, SANS.”

His brother shot him a funny look.  ** *yeah. i care about ya, too, kid. **

“NOW I CHANGED THE NEXT PUZZLE PERSONALLY, AND I’M REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THE ONE AFTER THAT. ARE YOU READY TO MOVE ON, FRISK?”

“Let’s go!”

This was where his first x to o puzzle had been. But since he’d added the one at the beginning, he’d decided to make this one a bit harder.  “NOW, IF YOU HAVEN’T NOTICED, YOU NEED TO SOLVE THE REST OF THESE PUZZLES BY YOURSELF. BUT WORRY NOT! YOU CAN ALWAYS ASK ME FOR ASSISTANCE!”

He’d added two more x’s and a few more snow piles. He was a little disappointed when Frisk didn’t ask him for help, but he admired them for working it out.  “OH! YOU SOLVED IT QUICKLY! I’M PROUD OF YOU, FRISK! AND TO THINK, I DIDN’T BELIEVE THAT YOU LIKED PUZZLES! THIS NEXT ONE SHOULD BE EASY FOR YOU!”

The next puzzle had always needed a little pizazz, and he’d decided to rearrange it to the shape of his face! Halfway through, he’d gotten a better idea, after all, why stop there? The puzzle was now shaped like all of him.

Frisk set out to solve it with determination, but kept making mistakes. Before long, he’d given out every hint he knew, and it was time to reveal the solution! He went to the tree, and pulled the lever, but only half of the puzzle solved itself.

** *heh… that’s a ‘switch’. **

“SANS! THIS IS SERIOUS! WE NEED TO KEEP MOVING, AND I INSTALLED THE LEVER TO AVOID THINGS LIKE THIS!”

** *can’t we just take a shortcut? **

“NO! BECAUSE… WELL…”

“Because this is a really good puzzle, and we can’t let it go to waste, Sans. Your tips helped me, Papyrus. We’ll figure it out together.”

He beamed with pride as the human went back to solving the puzzle.  ***heh. kid sure seems to have learned the right stuff.**

“YES! IT’S HARD TO BELIEVE THAT FRISK IS THE SAME HUMAN THAT CAME HERE BEFORE!”

Sans smiled up at him.  ** *you’re doin’ good, bro. real good. **

He struck the coolest pose he knew.  “NATURALLY. I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS AFTER ALL.”

** *that you are. **

“SANS… DO YOU KNOW THE SOLUTION TO THE PUZZLE?”

** * it’s your puzzle, pap. i didn’t help you with this one. **

“YES, BUT YOU KNOW ALL THAT SCIENCEY STUFF. I WOULD HAVE THOUGHT THAT PUZZLES WOULD MEAN AS MUCH TO YOU AS THEY DO TO ME, BUT YOU ONLY SEEM TO TOLERATE THEM FOR MY SAKE.”

Sans shrugged.  ** *eh, too much work. ‘sides, the kid’ll have it in a few more tries. **

“HOW CAN YOU BE SO SURE IF YOU DON’T KNOW THE SOLUTION?”

Was there guilt in that smirk? There was!  “YOU’VE FIGURED IT OUT!!”

** * i didn’t say that. **

“YOU DIDN’T SAY THAT YOU DON’T KNOW THE ANSWER EITHER! OH MY GOSH, SANS, JUST SOLVE IT FOR FRISK SO THAT WE CAN GET ON TO THE TILE PUZZLE! I… I MAY HAVE LEFT IT ACTIVATED.”

Sans stared at him, grin getting wider by the second.  ** *you activated it? papyrus… that’s hilarious. **

“IT’S NOT FUNNY! I HAD TO BE ABLE TO WORK THE HUMAN THROUGH IT ON THIS SIDE, AND I DIDN’T REALIZE THIS WOULD TAKE SO LONG!”

** *alright, alright. i got it. ** Sans closed his eyes for a second, then opened them, his left eye glowing a bright blue as he grabbed hold of Frisk. The human gasped in fear, but calmed down when Sans simply slid them through the puzzle like they were in his marble trap. Sans let go as the spikes clicked down, and that only left the gap puzzle to get through. 

He was all for jumping it, but Frisk laughed as they slid through it perfectly, not making a single mistake. When they activated the bridge across the gap, they tried to run back.  “NO HUMAN, THAT’S THE WRONG WAY. WE’RE GOING THIS WAY.”

“But… the snow sculptures…”

He glanced down at his brother quickly, but there was no answer to be found there.  “H-HOW DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THOSE? DID YOU FALL LAST TIME? THE PUZZLE WAS DEACTIVATED BY THE TIME YOU CAME THROUGH…”

“I’ve seen them before. I wanted to ask you about…”

They were cut off by a frustrated yelp from up ahead.

** *uh oh. ** Sans was grinning a little too much for someone trying to sound concerned.

“THE PUZZLE!” How could he have forgotten about it for so long?! He raced forward to save the poor monster trapped in the difficult to remember maze of lights, but instead found a bunch of the local teens having a great time cheering on the monster that had made it halfway through the maze.

The Icecap didn’t seem to be having ‘fun’, per say, but it didn’t seem to be in any danger, at least.


	12. Chapter 12

Those Snowdin kids were having a blast with the tile puzzle. Papyrus sternly shooed them away, and then stopped them to offer to make them spaghetti, or to feel free to start up a fan club for him. 

Heh, his brother really was the coolest. He turned to pass this sentiment on to the kid, but Frisk was taking advantage of the distraction to wander off, and not just towards the "skull"-ptures, either. Interesting…

He took a shortcut to get ahead of the kid, but Frisk didn’t look surprised at all to see him standing there. Not that he was surprised. Kid had probably seen all of his tricks a hundred times by now.

“It’s alright, Sans. I’m just helping the monsters down here.”

He waited patiently while the kid played nice, then started to go back. A pause. “Sans?”

** *sup? **

“How’d you find me? When I was stuck out there?”

He shrugged. He still had secrets, to the best of his knowledge, and it was because he wasn’t going to give them up easily.  ** *we’re not too clear on what the void is, but i know a couple of shortcuts. once i figured out what you’d done to send papyrus back, it wasn’t so hard to track you down.  ** Still best not to go into detail about it.

“Oh. Well, thanks. I know… I know how hard that choice must have been… to help me.”

_Why_ did that seem so familiar? And wrong. He let it slide, knowing full well that if he had that kind of knowledge about people, he’d use it to mess with them. Still… he got the feeling that if the kid tried to hug him, he’d better be ready to dodge, for some reason.

“And I’m really sorry that I put you through all that stuff, even if you don’t remember.”

Frisk started up the path again.

** *kid? **

He wasn’t sure how to describe the expression. Papyrus seemed to be able to read the face pretty well, but it always looked deadpanned to him.  ** *no matter what choices led up to it; choosing to save papyrus? don’t think it’s just because he’s my bro when i say that it was the best call you coulda made. **

So maybe that could be a smile. “He’s THE GREAT PAPYRUS. Who else would be better suited to save the entire Underground? And… yeah… I do think he’s cool.”

He tried not to let his eyes go black as the kid walked up the path. It wasn’t just his imagination, then… the kid had done all this multiple times; befriended them all, learning everything about them, down to what they were going to say. And then…

Would Papyrus keep believing in the kid with _that_ knowledge? Heh… of course he would. Knowing that the human had done the right thing in the past wouldn’t faze his brother. 

He took a shortcut back, getting there ahead of Frisk. Papyrus still, (unknowingly, he was sure) had the kids cornered, giving them helpful hints about puzzles. 

He didn’t care if his smile betrayed the admiration; it was no secret. He’d always be proud of Papyrus, no matter what. It was one of the few things he wouldn’t have minded throwing all his effort into if it came down to it. But as it turned out, being proud of Papyrus was the easiest thing he’d ever done. His brother deserved every second of admiration he could get, and if the monsters in the Underground were too focused on that stupid barrier to see it, it didn’t make him any less deserving.

Frisk actually came back instead of going to see the great Papyrus’s snow statue. He briefly wondered if his memories of watching Pap build it were actually his, or stolen from another fracture in the timeline, then watched as Frisk insisted on trying out the puzzle for real, despite his brother’s protests. 

Heh, he wondered how many times the kid’s curiosity had heated up situations. ‘How’d he find that one spot in the void’ indeed. So sure; let the kid think that the "shortcuts" were nothing more than a parlor trick. The dodging, and karma and the gaster blasters, too. Didn’t really matter what the kid thought or didn’t think; those were just a few of the secrets he fully intended to keep under his hoodie.

“SANS! WHILE YOU WERE STANDING AROUND THINKING UP NEW PUNS, THE HUMAN SOLVED THE PUZZLE, AND I HAVE DEACTIVATED IT. YOU CAN PROCEED NOW, WITHOUT ANY NEED FOR CAUTION.”

Heh, his grin must’ve changed enough to give him away.  ** *thanks, bro. nice work, kiddo. **

Papyrus seemed to be doing a lot better. Extremely well, after everything he’d described. He was still being a bit overprotective of everyone… it wasn’t like those kids back there didn’t mess around with puzzles from time to time, but that could only be expected after seeing their dust.

He shook it off, trying not to think of Papyrus  _dying_ , and then coming back to that mess. The human was acting all sweet, sure, but it was real hard to trust the kid after seeing the way Papyrus had hugged that torn hoodie around himself yesterday morning.

He usually didn’t have this much time to think when Papyrus was around, but his brother was being uncharacteristically silent as they crossed the bridge into town, elaborate puzzle deactivated. 

He gave him a thorough once over, making sure this wasn’t taking it’s toll on him, but he seemed as cheerful and lighthearted as ever.

As they reached Snowdin, he slowed the pace a little.  “WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT ABOUT STOPPING FOR SPAGHETTI? SANS IS SO INSISTENT ABOUT BREAKS, I FORGET THAT SOME MONSTERS ACTUALLY NEED THEM.”

** *like i don’t? **

Frisk chuckled. “It’s up to you, Papyrus. I’d love some spaghetti, but we also need to fix this, and we already know what Sans’s vote is.”

“YES, MY BROTHER HAS QUITE A REPUTATION. WE WERE TALKING ABOUT THAT EARLIER. THANK YOU FOR PROVING MY POINT, FRISK.”

“Well, as much as I like your house, we don’t need to stop if you guys are coming with me, because…”

“WAIT… HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT YOU LIKE OUR HOUSE?”

Sans didn’t feel like anything could surprise him at this point, but it figured that Paps was having a hard time wrapping his brain around the whole, ‘the human already knew how to be good’ concept. It wasn’t because Papyrus was stupid; it was because his kind heart refused to believe that the kid could have done all that  _after_ being a friend to everyone down here. 

“Well…” the kid glanced back at him, and he shook his head. Papyrus had had a hard enough lesson about the evil in the world for one timeline. Drat… was he really just accepting that this was all just going to be erased? His brother was right. The kid really did seem like a decent enough sort. And maybe… a sudden realization struck him as the kid distracted Papyrus by telling him how cozy and inviting the house looked, and how cool the flag was. He shot a look at his brother, watching him smile fondly at their house as they walked past. 

It was possible, wasn’t it? It had gotten them this far. He didn’t dare give voice to it, even in his mind, but he couldn’t shake the thought, and it filled him with more hope that he’d had for, if the resets were as extensive as he believed them to be, a very long time.

“ALRIGHT THEN, IT’S SETTLED! I SHALL MAKE YOU SPAGHETTI LATER, HUMAN FRISK! FOR NOW, WE SHALL HURRY ONWARD TO UNDYNE’S HOUSE!”

Ah. So that was the reason he was too excited to even stop and make spaghetti for someone who was actually asking for it; he needed to make sure that neither Undyne nor the kid was gonna battle it out.

As they passed through the last bit of snow-covered ground, an uneasy feeling settled over him, pressing on his very soul, and threatening to crush it. He hated this spot… nightmares aside, there was something very, very _wrong_ about this area.

Papyrus kept walking, but the kid stopped short, waterworks starting. He stopped, too, refusing to betray how much the very air was affecting him.

Papyrus stopped with a sigh, and hung his head before looking back at them. An encouraging smile lit his face, and he turned, and came back to them, getting to his knees in front of the kid.

“NOW, NOW, HUMAN. THERE’S NO NEED FOR TEARS. SEE? I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM ALIVE AND WELL!” Paps held his arms out, and the kid shot forward.

Sans felt the light leave his eyes as he held a hand out, but his panic was unnecessary. The kid hugged Papyrus tightly, and his bro’s eyes closed as he returned it with a happy,  “NYEH, HEH, HEH!”

When Papyrus opened his eyes again, Sans realized that he was still frozen there with his arm out.  “SANS.” Heh, Pap’s voice wasn’t quite at it’s quietest, but there was the maximum output of comfort in it as he held his arm out.  “I’M ALRIGHT, BROTHER.” 

Of course he was. Which meant that everything was alright. He shuffled into the hug, getting pulled in next to Frisk.

Papyrus squeezed them both tightly, then stood up, and patted them both on the head, startling a laugh out of him.  ** *heh. thanks, pap. **

From the look on the kid’s face, he hadn’t exactly been wrong to assume at that hug had gone differently in past timelines. “Yeah. You really are the greatest.”

Papyrus’s whole face blushed.  “YOU ARE ONLY SAYING THAT BECAUSE IT IS THE TRUTH! NOW COME ALONG, YOU TWO! LET’S GO FIND UNDYNE!”

The kid didn’t look all that happy about it as they pressed forward into Waterfall.

** *what’s the matter, bucko? you looked worried about something. **

The kid shrugged unconvincingly. “I’m a little worried about fighting Undyne without… well… without my determination.”

He hadn’t been wrong. That little fact would be worth remembering.

***eh, don’t sweat it. she’s hard-core, heh, but she ain’t exactly gonna run you through in front of paps.** Hmm, the kid tried to smile at the joke, but got that same look when he winked. Right eye, again. Interesting, but not exactly something he could help. It wasn’t like forcing himself to wink with the left eye would make the kid feel trusted. But it was interesting to note that they’d seen both enough to figure out that little tell of his.

“OOPS. THAT’S YOUR STATION. SANS, SHOULDN’T YOU BE THERE?”

** *i’ll ask undyne for the day off. **

“BUT, SANS! THERE’S NO ONE THERE RIGHT NOW!”

He shrugged.  ** *we’ve got the human with us.  ** Besides, no one ever bothered to fill any of his stations when he left, whether he was taking a break, or off duty altogether. Sure made a guy feel useful.

“I SUPPOSE THAT’S TRUE. BUT WHAT IF ANOTHER ONE TURNS UP? WE CAN’T BE TOO CAREFUL. ALL THE MORE REASON TO PRESS ONWARD TO UNDYNE’S HOUSE!”

** *does she even know we’re coming? **

“Isn’t it time for Papyrus’s cooking lesson?”

“FRISK, YOU SEEM TO HAVE AN ABUNDANCE OF INFORMATION THAT YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE. HAVE YOU BEEN TALKING TO SANS ABOUT ME BEHIND MY BACK?”

“Um…”

“IT WAS VERY CONSIDERATE OF YOU TO TRY TO AVOID BOTHERING ME, BUT I COULD NEVER BE BOTHERED BY A FRIEND WISHING TO KNOW ME BETTER!”

Heh, and to think, Paps called him lazy when he bothered to think of his own excuses. If he only knew how good he was at providing them for people, and handing ‘em out, practically gift-wrapped…

“IN ANY CASE, YOUR INFORMATION IS A LITTLE OLD. MY LESSON WAS YESTERDAY.”

“Wait… no cooking lesson?” The kid stopped short.

** *that gonna be a problem? **

“I… I don’t know.”

So this was ALL as new to the kid as it was to them. Well, it’d been nice to think someone knew what was going to happen next while it lasted. 


	13. Chapter 13

Frisk was really very good with puzzles! Then again, he supposed that the human had solved Undyne’s puzzles before. They solved them quickly, without even thinking about it. That was a very positive thing, and shouldn’t nag at him at all.

But something was very strange. The human mentioned things that made it sound as if they had been friends last time, when, in fact, he knew that they had not, despite a very clear offer for friendship. It was a puzzle, to be sure. But he’d work it out, later. For right now, it was just important that everyone become best friends, and put an end to all the threat of fighting once and for all.

He didn’t need a lift across the gap, but the little bird was so happy to help, he usually let the little guy help anyway. With three of them to get across, however, he just jumped. Frisk accepted the ride, and Sans… had gotten to the other side all on his own. Those short-cuts of his… well, at least he now knew that Sans didn’t get ANY exercise when he went to all his different stations after all. And strangely enough, his brother didn’t look like he was ready to collapse from exhaustion after the long walk here. 

He didn’t like feeling as if he didn’t know everything there was to know about Sans. It bothered him much more than the puzzle Frisk presented. Sans wasn’t supposed to a puzzle!

“IT’S JUST AROUND THE CORNER… THIS WAY.”

Hmmm, Undyne didn’t appear to be home. Where could she be? He pulled out his phone, and dialed her number. 

“Heya, Papyrus. What’s up?”

“UNDYNE, WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO COME BACK TO YOUR HOUSE?”

“Um, not sure. Why?”

“BECAUSE I'VE BROUGHT MY NEW FRIEND OVER TO VISIT YOU, AND YOU’RE NOT HERE TO MEET THEM.”

“You made a new friend? That’s great! Who is it?”

“UM… WELL, THAT’S THE PROBLEM. YOU HAVEN’T TECHNICALLY MET THE HUMAN, AND…”

“THE HUMAN!?!?!?!” The signal was cut off, even though he could still hear her voice ringing through his skull.

“HMM. WELL, SHE SOUNDS EXCITED.”

Frisk ducked behind the training dummy, which started to throw a fit. “Hey! I know you! You’re the miserable creature that said those awful things to my cousin!”

Frisk looked exasperated. “No! I didn’t! I only said nice things, I promise! Don’t get all worked up!”

The training dummy wanted to start a fight. He firmly stepped in between them, catching a projectile as it was launched.  “THAT’S ENOUGH!”

Undyne came charging up the path at that exact moment. “What’s going on here?”

“WE WERE JUST… OWIE!” The dummy launched another attack, Frisk dove out of the way, and he was turning to look at Undyne so a couple projectiles caught him unaware. 

Unfortunately, Undyne seemed to think that the human was responsible. “Alright you little punk! You’re gonna pay for that!”

Frisk looked confused and terrified, caught in one fight, with Undyne getting closer by the second. They tried to spare the dummy, but it only enraged the irritated ghost inside more. 

Stepping in front of the human would mean not blocking Frisk from Undyne’s rage. How was this going so badly?!?!  “UNDYNE, THE HUMAN IS THE FRIEND I WANTED YOU TO… WOULD YOU STOP THAT!”  He ended with a frown at the training dummy, and he finally grumbled to himself before backing off.

He turned, keeping Frisk behind him. 

Undyne had her spear out, but she was looking more conflicted than enraged. “Y-YOUR FRIEND? A HUMAN?!?” She took a breath to calm herself. “Papyrus… you can’t be friends with a human.”

“AND WHY NOT?”

She fought for words, then pointed the spear at his brother, glaring when Sans didn’t even flinch. “How could you let this happen?! How could you let him befriend the human we’ve all been waiting for?”

“WAIT… YOU KNOW ABOUT THE SOULS? ALL THIS TIME, I THOUGHT YOU JUST REALLY HATED HUMANS, BUT IT’S MORE THAN THAT. YOU’VE BEEN AFTER A SOUL, HAVEN’T YOU?”

“Papyrus… get out of the way.”

“NO!” He stomped his foot, feeling a little like a child having a tantrum, but he was here to stop them from fighting, and he wasn’t going to let it happen! Undyne hated to lose, and took things too far, and he’d already seen what the human was capable of!  “I WON’T LET YOU FIGHT!”

Undyne answered by using her revered spear attack, and the training dummy took that moment to return. Papyrus blocked as many as he could, and Frisk dodged with admirable skill, but one misstep made them trip into an attack, and it looked like it hurt. He was so worried about the human, he didn’t see that the rest of the training dummy’s attacks were headed straight for him, until they hit.

“Papyrus! Get out of the way!” Undyne was preparing to attack again.

Frisk shot a worried glance at him, then noticed that the training dummy was screaming about more attacks. With a yelp, the human fled the battle, and hid behind Sans… of all the things to hide behind.

His brother glanced down, looking amused as Frisk peered fearfully around him. It was a smart move, because Undyne hesitated, knowing that she couldn’t afford to miss even a light attack around his brother.

“Hey! You! Knock it off!” The training dummy grumbled and left the battle again, while Undyne rubbed her face. 

He quickly strode over to stand in front of his brother and the human, just in case she figured out an angle that wouldn’t mean certain death for Sans. 

“Ugh! What is with you two? Have you completely lost it? Have you forgotten what your jobs are? Because capturing a human is literally your job!”

“UNDYNE, FRISK IS OUR FRIEND, AND ALSO JUST A CHILD. HOW CAN YOU STEAL THEIR SOUL KNOWING THAT?”

“Papyrus…” Slowly, she let the spear fall, shaking her head. He couldn’t tell if she was disappointed in herself, or just in him, but she and Frisk were both still alive, and that was worth any personal cost. Even if she never, ever spoke to him again. “Papyrus? Can I talk to you?”

Oh, good! She was already speaking to him again!  “OF COURSE, UNDYNE!”

She motioned him over to where she was standing. 

Behind him, he heard Sans digging through his pockets.  ** *here you go, kiddo. better get that hp back up. **

He glanced back to make certain that it wasn’t only considered edible to Sans. The candy bar was no freshly prepared plate of spaghetti from the master chef, but it had a wrapper, and wasn’t too squished for something from Sans’s hoodie. Strange… he was wearing the freshly washed one, and the pockets should have been empty… more of his space-time shenanigans, no doubt.

“YES, UNDYNE?”

“Shhh, try to keep it down. Look, I’ve got a bad feeling about this kid, and I can’t shake it.”

She had a pretty good reason for not liking Frisk, even if she didn’t know it. He didn’t think that telling her that would help his case.  “UNDYNE… WE HAVE TO DO WHAT’S RIGHT. AND I THINK THAT WE SHOULD ALL BE FRIENDS.”

She made a scoffing noise in the back of her throat. “I’m really surprised that you talked Sans into this.” She sighed. “Okay, maybe not. But I would have thought that he, at least would have the sens…”

“WOULD HAVE WHAT, UNDYNE?”

She looked guilty for a moment, then tried to finish her sentence. “would have… you know…”

“WOULD HAVE BEEN TOO LAZY TO CAPTURE THE HUMAN? MAYBE. BUT HE SAID HE WAS WITH ME ON THIS.”

She looked relieved that he’d guessed it. That was kind of her, to worry about hurting his brother’s feelings. She probably didn’t realize that Sans seemed to like being a lazybones. “SO WILL YOU TRY IT?”

“Try what?”

“INVITING THE HUMAN INTO YOUR HOUSE???”

She groaned, and jabbed a finger in his face. “Fine. For you! Hey, PUNK! Let’s go inside!”

Frisk looked a little intimidated at the order, but followed along as they all went in. Papyrus took a deep breath, then implemented the second part of his master plan.  “OOPS. I JUST REMEMBERED THAT SANS IS SUPPOSED TO BE AT HIS POST!” He picked his brother up in one arm, and dove out the window.

Sans didn’t seem fazed as Papyrus set him down. He just lazily brushed off his hoodie, and pulled out another candy bar.  ** *you took a couple good hits there, bro. **

Papyrus waved the candy bar away, shushing him. Sans knew full well that he still had plenty of hp left, and he needed to make sure that they weren’t killing each other in there.

It wasn’t going very well. He leaned back in through the window.  “DANG! WHAT A SHAME. I THOUGHT UNDYNE COULD BE FRIENDS WITH YOU. BUT I GUESS… I OVERESTIMATED HER. SHE’S JUST NOT UP TO THE CHALLENGE.” 

He pulled back from the window, and sat down beside Sans, just under it. Sans was chuckling silently.  ***wow… that was almost devious.**

“SHHHHH!”

Sans was obediently silent as he opened the candy bar and handed it over. Papyrus sighed. He had no choice but to accept it, now. If he gave it back, Sans would stuff it back into his hoodie for later, even though it would get covered in fuzz, and who knows what else? He rolled his eyes and took it. His hp wasn’t down very much. He broke it in half, and handed the rest of it back.

Sans shrugged, and took a bite as they listened to Undyne offer to let the human choose whether to drink tea, or… from the sounds of it, just tea.

But Undyne didn’t sound like she was about to rampage at all! He bit into his half of the candy bar and chewed happily. As they sat down to have a wonderful conversation, and talk about none other than him, The Great Papyrus and how Undyne didn’t think she could ever let him, be, a… member of the royal guard? What?

He turned towards his brother, to ask him how he could have heard that wrong, but the look in Sans’s eyes told him that there was no need.

He, he tried to shrug it off. At least they were having a heart to heart, and not killing each other… but… he hugged his knees to his chest, resting his chin on top of them.

Sans stuffed the candy wrapper in his pocket then reached out, and put his hand on top of Papyrus's glove. Hegrabbed hold of it, and Sans gave him a reassuring squeeze.  ***don’t worry about it, pap.**  

He shrugged, trying very hard not to feel crushed. He didn’t have to worry about shushing Sans anymore, because Undyne had started yelling in her excited way.  “I…I’M NOT… I’LL PROVE TO HER THAT BEING NICE ISN’T A GOOD REASON TO KEEP ME OUT OF THE ROYAL GUARD.”

** *’course you will. heck, if you weren’t exactly like you are, we wouldn’t even be here right now. even if nobody else ever knows it, you’re literally our hero. **

He pulled his hand free, and wrapped his arm around Sans to pull him close, grateful for the thick hoodie he always wore, and also glad that it was clean. Sans didn’t say anything else, and he didn’t have to. He already felt better.  “YOU’RE RIGHT, OF COURSE. WAIT… DID SHE JUST TELL FRISK TO TURN UP THE HEAT?”

Undyne bellowed from inside. “Hotter!”

“MAYBE THAT’S ENOUGH BONDING TIME FOR ONE…”

Sans’s eyes went completely black as the building behind them caught fire. His own eyes were bugging out of his head. They leapt to their feet.  ** *is she trying to fight the human again? **

“STAY HERE!”

** *papyrus! **

He ignored Sans and raced into the building just as Undyne was questioning the human’s will to fight. He grabbed hold of both of them, and yanked them out where Sans was waiting for him to do his heroics. 

Undyne smiled sheepishly. “Huh, looks like things got kind of carried away again, huh, Papyrus?”

He rubbed the back of his head, trying to forget the comment he hadn’t meant to overhear.  “UM… WELL, THINGS… ARE YOU FRIENDS YET?”

Undyne rubbed Frisk’s head. “Yeah, I guess so. I guess you were right about the punk.”

Of course he was. And it was just remarkable that Frisk had changed so much that Undyne couldn’t even believe that the human would fight at all… his smile weakened as he turned towards Frisk again.

Frisk tried to smile back, but couldn’t hold it.

“Anyway, since I don’t have a house anymore, I guess I’ll come back to Snowdin to hang out with you guys.”

“YOU’RE MORE THAN WELCOME TO STAY WITH US AGAIN, UNDYNE. BUT WE’RE NOT GOING BACK NOW. WILL YOU COME TO SEE THE KING WITH US?”

“Wait… you’re taking the human to Asgore? I thought…” She shook her head. “Look, I’ll help however I can, but I’m not sure I can be a part of this.”

“THAT’S ALRIGHT, UNDYNE. WE’LL BE ALRIGHT.”

“Thanks for not fighting me, Undyne.” Frisk smiled. 

Undyne laughed and jogged off.

Frisk waited until she left. “You’re still here… Papyrus, you didn’t hear that, did you?!”

Of course he was still here! But…

“You did.”

** *kid… **

“I’m sorry, Sans. I wasn’t expecting you to stay by the window. Papyrus, I… I…”

“IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT, FRISK! HOW COULD YOU HAVE KNOWN WHAT UNDYNE WAS GOING TO SAY??? OR... MORE SPECIFICALLY… HOW _DID_ YOU?”

Sans sighed.  ** *might as well tell him, kid. **

“I… I’ve reset more than once. I’ve heard her say it before.”

Undyne had said that before? No, he was getting distracted.  “HOW MANY TIMES?”

Frisk shot a worried glance at Sans. “I… you don’t need to come with me anymore.” The human raced off before he could say anything to stop them.

“FRISK! COME BACK. SANS, WHY…” His brother was rubbing the back of his neck. What weren’t they telling him?

** *let’s just catch up to the kid. **


	14. Chapter 14

When Sans started to head the other way, he grabbed hold of his shoulder.  “THE HUMAN IS VISITING UNDYNE’S NEIGHBOR. DON’T YOU HEAR THE MUSIC?” He crossed his arms, and started tapping his foot.

Some quick comeback died in the back of his brother’s throat as his grin started to droop around the edges.

He wagged an accusing finger, missing the days when he’d done it for something so simple as finding his brother asleep on the job.  “YOU’RE NOT TELLING ME EVERYTHING. SANS… I THOUGHT WE WERE A TEAM.”

Sans glanced off to the side, the way he always did when Papyrus gave him that look.  ***papyrus, i told ya everything i knew. honest.**

“MAYBE SO.”  He winced as he realized he’d just called his brother a possible liar, despite knowing full well that honesty wasn't exactly one of Sans's strongest points.  “BUT YOU’VE FIGURED OUT MORE SINCE THEN, AND YOU’RE TRYING TO HIDE IT. YOU KNOW WHY THE HUMAN REMEMBERS SO MANY STRANGE THINGS, DON’T YOU?”

Sans didn’t nod, or shake his head, or even make a pun to change the subject. 

“SANS!!! I NEED TO KNOW! HOW CAN I FIX THIS IF I DON’T KNOW EVERYTHING THAT’S GOING ON?”

Was that… a wince? He staggered a step backwards, that wince hurting even more than overhearing Undyne.  “Y-YOU DON’T THINK I CAN DO IT.”

Sans’s eyes darted back to him in shock, but the damage was done.  ** *no! of course you can… if anyone could… **

He took another step back.  “AND YOU DON’T THINK ANYONE CAN, DO YOU? YOU THINK THIS IS ALL POINTLESS.” His eyes narrowed.  “WELL, YOU’RE BOTH WRONG. FRISK _IS_ GOOD, NOW, AND IT’S ALREADY DIFFERENT, AND…”  he shook his head, and marched past Sans.

** *papyrus, it isn’t like that! c’mon, paps… **

They could talk about this later. As much as it hurt to find out that the one person who had always seen his potential didn’t really believe in him, the important thing was still saving everyone. 

He watched the human wave to the ghost with the snail farm, wishing he could remember his name. He doubled his pace, both to catch up to Frisk, and to put some space between him and his brother. Let Sans take another shortcut if he couldn’t keep up.

** *papyrus, please! **

Sans sounded distraught. Certainly more upset than he usually allowed himself to be in public. Papyrus sighed, but didn’t slow down until he was walking alongside the human. It was a lot to take in, after all. Sans was just confused right now. He couldn’t blame his brother when, deep down, even he had something that might be called doubt. 

Frisk gave him a confused look, then stopped to wait for Sans, like he should have to begin with.

His brother walked up, eyes miserable, grin looking fake. He glanced at the human, then didn’t try to say anything else.

He gave Sans a sad smile so that his brother wouldn’t worry that he was mad or anything, and then started down the path once more.

Sans shoved his hands into his pockets and hung his head.

Frisk left them to their thoughts for a few moments, but the human’s curiosity couldn’t stand it for long. “Are you two okay?”

“OF COURSE, FRISK. WHY WOULDN’T WE BE?”

“It’s just… you never… I mean… you guys… sure you… but…”

Sans muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like,  ** *just spit it out, kid. **

Frisk paused to reconsider. “You two seemed like you got along pretty well.”

“WE DO.” He hadn’t meant to be so short, but he didn’t want to talk about this until the human told him what he was missing, and he could decide for himself how to prove to Sans that it could be fixed.

“But…” Frisk obviously wasn’t convinced.

Sans sighed.  ** *look, kiddo. we’re brothers, alright? i’m lucky to have him around, he puts up with me, we mostly mess with each other all the time, but, believe it or not, we do fight. doesn’t happen all that often. paps is too forgiving to let it get ‘under his skin’, and most things go ‘over my head’ anyway. **

Papyrus rolled his eyes, but a grin was forming, despite himself. Leave it to Sans to already be trying to smooth it over with corny puns.

** *but every once in a while, one of us might say or do somethin’ stupid, same as any family, really. sometimes it feels like it can’t ever be made up. **

Was Sans really apologizing through a life lesson to the human? He had to stop his brother before he embarrassed himself further.  “BUT IN SUCH CASES, IT’S NOT AS HARD TO FORGIVE AS YOU MIGHT THINK. EVERYONE MAKES MISTAKES. EXCEPT, OF COURSE, FOR THE GREAT PAPYRUS. NYEH, HEH, HEH!”

He made the mistake of glancing down at his brother, but it, of course, didn’t turn out to be a mistake after all. He was able to give Sans a much more reassuring smile, now that he’d had some time to ponder what was wrong. It wasn’t actually so much that Sans doubted him. All this talk of befriending the human that had killed them before was probably discouraging his brother, that was all. His poor brother was only falling under the false assumption that there was a chance that  _nobody_ could fix what had been done, not even The Great Papyrus, which would surely discourage anyone. Well, he could cleverly double talk as well! 

“YOU SEE, HUMAN, IT’S NOT AS IMPORTANT TO NOT MAKE MISTAKES, AS IT IS TO LEARN FROM MISTAKES. YOU DON’T ALWAYS HAVE A CHANCE TO CHANGE A MISTAKE, WHICH IS WHY I AM SO CAREFUL NOT TO MAKE THEM, BUT YOU’VE BEEN ABLE TO MAKE UP FOR YOUR MISTAKES.” Wait… no. That was reassuring to the human, yes, but this was supposed to be pointed at his brother as well. He’d gotten off track a bit there.  “THE IMPORTANT THING, IS TO REMEMBER HOW FAST YOU’RE LEARNING TO BE GOOD, AND…”

He stopped, because both sets of footsteps behind him had stopped. He glanced back to find the human looking guilty, and Sans looking like he’d expected that. Right in the middle of his inspiring speech!  “ARE EITHER OF YOU GOING TO TELL ME WHAT’S WRONG, OR DO I HAVE TO FIGURE IT OUT FOR MYSELF?”

“It was just… such a big mistake.”

The look Sans turned on the human was practically a glare. It vanished quickly, but he was sure he’d seen it.  “… LIKE I SAID, YOU HAVE A CHANCE TO FIX A MISTAKE THAT MOST MONSTERS COULDN’T EVER HAVE FIXED.” He looked pointedly at Sans. “ SO THERE’S NO NEED TO BE DISCOURAGED, OKAY?” He looked back to Frisk like he’d been talking to the child the whole time. “BECAUSE FRIENDSHIP IS A POWERFUL THING, AND THAT’S WHAT WE’RE GOING TO USE TO GET YOU HOME.”

“But… what about the barrier?”

“IT WOULD NOT BE WORTH LOSING YOU TO BREAK THE BARRIER, FRISK.” He was glad that the fact was becoming clearer every moment, to the point where surely even the other monsters could see it. It wouldn’t ever have been right, to kill someone in order to escape, anyway, but there was such a potential for kindness in the little human. It was amazing, really. He wondered if all humans had that same range; if each one could be kind with a little encouragement. If each could be driven to murder.

“It, might not have to come to that. The barrier can be broken without anyone getting hurt.”

Sans’s eyes went dark again, though he quickly closed them to hide it. Such a pained expression on his brother’s normally forever cheerful face. But why would such good news upset him? He must feel badly for doubting the great Papyrus when there was a way out after all. He could reassure his brother that he was forgiven a little later. For now… he stooped down towards the human.  “DO YOU REALLY THINK SO?”

Frisk nodded. “Yeah. I know there’s… gotta be a way.”

Well of course there did! That was good logic. There had to be a way to do the right thing without… that stupid nagging feeling. He didn’t want to mistrust the human! He did believe that Frisk could do better! And that wasn’t the problem. But he refused to even think about the reasons the human could know so much. Because… there was really only one reason. And if that were the truth… well… 

Sans wouldn’t be the only one with a fear that this might not be something The Great Papyrus could fix after all.


	15. Chapter 15

Frisk wouldn’t say another word, and though he was sure his brother could have explained it, he stayed silent. He was getting frustrated with both of them, all over again, but being the Great Papyrus meant overcoming little obstacles such as these as they arose.

To his credit, Sans, at least, looked frustrated as well. His brother probably had nothing more than guesses and theories, and, as much as he’d like to see how those compared to his own, it made him feel better than suspecting that Sans had it all figured out already, and was refusing to tell him.

The human… knew more than they were letting on. At this point, he was sure of it. But what could he do apart from remaining a good friend, and letting them tell him when they were ready?

The silence was rather awkward, but maybe he was the only one who thought so, because neither of them spoke up as they followed him the rest of the way to Hotland.

They passed yet another station that Sans was supposed to be manning…  “SANS! YOU NEVER ASKED UNDYNE FOR THE DAY OFF!”

That refuse-to-care chuckle of his…  ** *she knows where we are. **

They walked across the bridge, and past the water cooler.  “LAB?”

** *like… laboratory. **

“LABRADOR-Y? DOES THAT MEAN THAT THERE ARE DOGS INSIDE?”

** *i mean… i wouldn’t rule it… ** Sans broke off as he looked a Frisk, and he lost interest in whatever he’d been going to say. 

Normally he’d pretend to be grateful for that sort of intervention, but…  “FRISK, I REALIZE THAT MY BROTHER’S PUNS ARE BOTH CONSTANT AND TIRESOME, BUT YOU NEEDN’T TRY SO HARD TO APPEAR BORED.”

The human looked startled. “I… I’m not bored.”

Sans shrugged.  ***yeah, the kid must’ve just heard that one before.** He walked through the door, a little reluctantly. 

He followed his brother, nervous about what dog, exactly, would be waiting for them.  “WAIT! SANS! LOOK! IT’S A LAB!”

Frisk looked at him like he’d just said that outside. 

“SANS LOVES THINGS LIKE THIS. YOU KNOW… SCIENCE FICTION. ESPECIALLY IN REAL LIFE!”

Frisk looked more sad than bored, now, but they glanced over at the door before it opened, like they were watching a television episode that they’d already seen from a slightly different angle. 

A monster about the size of his brother and the human rushed out, and spun into a panic when she saw them. 

** *hey, alphys. **

“S-sans? W-wh-what are y-you d-doing here? Wh-why are y-you with the hu-human?”

“YOU KNOW EACH OTHER?”

She smiled weakly, and looked around nervously at them all. Sans glanced at the dog food bag that looked, strangely like the one his brother had once had in his room, then proceeded to pick up one of the papers from the desk and scan it.

“I-I mean, I s-saw you on m-my cameras, but… I wasn’t e-expecting you to f-follow the human th-this far…”

She looked nervous, so he struck a heroic pose to comfort her.  “WE ARE ASSISTING FRISK, THE HUMAN, THROUGH THE UNDERGROUND!” 

“O-oh… W-wow, th-that’s… um, y-you know… um, great.” Her eyes darted to Sans again.

“BROTHER!”

***huh?** Sans turned to him, then seemed to shake something off, allowing the paper to drift back to the table. 

Papyrus tapped his foot.  “I KNOW YOU PROBABLY FEEL RIGHT AT HOME, BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN YOU CAN BE RUDE! NOW APOLOGIZE.”

** *sorry, bro. **

“NOT TO _ME_ !!!”

He chuckled.  ***sure, bro. sorry, alph. guess i was just kinda _"determined"_ to be a bad house-guest.**

For some reason, she looked more nervous than ever. “Wh-what? N-no! Um,… y-you c-can l-look at wha-whatever y-you… um… w-want… I mean… i-it’s j-just l-laying there… r-right?”

There was a strange noise in the next room. “O-oh no! He’s h-here already!”

“WHO’S HERE? WHAT’S WRONG?”

“M-Mettaton! I, um, s-sort of, well, you see, what with all the threat of humans a-against the underground and such…”

** *wait… _that’s_ what your security upgrade was? **

“Um, y-yeah… we just haven’t n-needed him to, um… so, he’s been… um, doing his sh-show thing.”

“WHAT ARE YOU TWO TALKING ABOUT, AND WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH METTATON?”

Frisk was the only one in the room that didn’t look surprised when the Underground’s shining star burst through the wall, his signature theme song playing. 

“SANS! LOOK!!!”

His brother was leaning against the desk, looking like meeting the most famous monster in the Underground, other than the king himself, was no big deal.

_“YES, LOOK, MY BEAUTIES! IT'S TIME TO START TODAY'S PROGRAM, AND..."_

“WAIT… ARE WE ON TV RIGHT NOW?”

_“OHHHHH YES!_ ” The robot posed expertly for the cameras capturing the show. _“LET'S GIVE A WARM WELCOME TO THE HUMAN! NEVER PLAYED BEFORE, GORGEOUS? NO PROBLEM! THERE'S JUST ONE RULE. ANSWER CORRECTLY... OR YOU DIE!!! AND WHO IS THIS WITH YOU, HMMMM?"_

Frisk didn’t even blink at the consequences for losing. “Um, these are my friends; Papyrus… excuse me, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, and Sans.”

_“EXCELLENT, DARLING. AND WILL YOUR FRIENDS BE HELPING YOU TODAY?”_

“Um… I…”

“OF COURSE! THAT’S WHAT WE’RE HERE FOR. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AND MY BROTHER, SANS, ARE ASSISTING THE HUMAN THROUGHOUT THE UNDERGROUND.”

_“WONDERFUL. THE MORE THE MERRIER, DARLINGS. LET’S BEGIN.”_

Mettaton pulled a sheet of paper from a compartment in a grand sweep, knocking Alphys to the side. She stumbled a couple steps closer to Sans who gestured to the pile behind him.  ** *seriously, alph, is everythin’ alright? **

“O-of course. W-why wouldn’t it be?”

He didn’t have time to hear more, and Alphys raced back to Mettaton’s side anyway.  _“ALRIGHT THEN, FIRST QUESTION, DARLINGS!”_

Alphys calmed down considerably, until he started to read.  _“WHICH OF MY SHOWS HAD THE MOST POPULAR VIEWING RECORD OF ALL TIMES?”_

Frisk and Alphys both gasped in shock. “Th-those aren’t the questions you were s-supposed to read!”

_“WELL TODAY’S THE DAY I RUN MY PROMOTIONAL ADDS, DR. ALPHYS, AND I CAN’T BE EXPECTED TO BREAK SCHEDULE. I HAVE MY OWN SET OF QUESTIONS SET ASIDE FOR THIS OCCASION.”_

“B-but…”

_“IS THE ANSWER A: FABULOUS ME, B: BIG DEAL ON A WHEEL, C: A STAR IS MADE, OR D:…”_

“NO, NO, NO! THE ANSWER IS OUR HISTORY, THE MUSICAL!!!”

_“THAT IS… ABSOLUTELY CORRECT!”_

Frisk sighed in relief.

_“MOVING ALONG, WHAT LINE DID I MAKE FAMOUS IN MY THREE-PART SERIES, “I LOVE METTATON? IS IT, A:…”_

“SHOWBIZ IS FOR THE BOTS!”

Mettaton made a show of checking a card.  _“THAT ANSWER IS, CORRECT! BUT LET’S SEE IF WE CAN’T STUMP YOUR CULTURED FRIEND WITH THIS NEXT ONE, DARLING! WHAT IS THIS A PICTURE OF?”_

He knew this one, too!  “THAT’S A METTATON BRAND CANDY WRAPPER UNDER THE LEG OF A METTATON BRAND CHAIR FROM THE SPECIAL CHRISTMAS EPISODE THAT FEATURED THE ENTIRE CAST PLAYED BY METTATON !” 

Lights flashed, bells rang, and confetti fell from the ceiling.  _“I HAD MORE QUESTIONS, BUT IT’S NO USE ASKING THEM, WITH SUCH A LEARNED FAN ANSWERING!”_

Frisk and Alphys stared at him. Sans gave him a thumbs up from the desk he was still leaning on.

_“LATER, DARLINGS!”_ Mettaton rolled out, and Alphys quickly launched into an apology to Frisk while Sans sauntered over. 

** *hey, nice work, paps. **

“THE QUESTIONS WERE SO EASY… I FEEL BAD. SHOULD I HAVE LET FRISK ANSWER???”

** *nah, buddy. i’d say you were a real _"show stopper"_. **

He crossed his arms.  “AND A GOOD THING, TOO. BECAUSE I HEAR THAT METTATON "KILLS".”

It wasn’t just his eyes; Sans’s whole face lit up. He didn’t comment on the pun, but he didn’t need to. 

“UM… WELL, ANYWAY. WHERE TO NEXT, HUMAN? WHAT? YOU’RE WAITING FOR A PHONE UPGRADE? OH! I SHOULD GIVE YOU MY NUMBER! THAT WAY, YOU’LL BE ABLE TO CALL IF WE SHOULD BECOME SEPARATED FOR ANY REASON.”

“That’d be great, Papyrus. And I should give you my number, too.”

“REALLY? THEN I’D HAVE THREE WHOLE CONTACTS ON MY PHONE! IN CASE YOU’RE WONDERING, THE TWO I ALREADY HAVE ARE SANS, AND UNDYNE.”

“Sure thing. Just as soon as she gives my phone back. Thanks for the help with those questions, by the way. I thought I was in real trouble there, for a minute.”

“OF COURSE!!! I WATCH ALL OF METTATON’S SHOWS. IF HE TRIES THAT AGAIN, WE’LL BEAT HIS GAME JUST AS EASILY!”

“H-here you go. I made a few modifications th-that should really help you out.”

“THANK YOU! WE SHALL VENTURE FORTH, MORE PREPARED!” They headed for the back door, but Sans turned and started walking backwards at the last second.

** *’preciate it, alph. just let us know if there’s any way to return the favor, k? **

The royal scientist was sweating. “Oh, um… s-sure… d-don’t mention it. Please.”


	16. Chapter 16

The brush with fame seemed to have distracted Papyrus for a moment, but tiny little sparks of deja vu wouldn’t stop plaguing Sans.

 For the life of him, he still couldn’t summon a clear memory of any changed timelines, but there was a sense of which things were ‘correct’. Heh… he’d probably just gotten too close to it all. To have found a way to keep any notes about the timelines ending, he’d almost have to have been affected, one way or another.

 So there were some possibilities to consider; first off, he could continue to evaluate everything purely at face value. Odds were strongly in favor of that, and the kid had pretty much confessed anyway. That would mean that they were dealing with something akin to split personalities, but more complicated than that.

 Papyrus was suspicious, he could tell. But how much did he suspect? That there was a chance that this kid had already learned how to be good from him? That the kid might not have been bad to begin with? Absolute power, and all that. Because even after watching Papyrus tear up as he recounted finding all that dust, even after all the nightmares involving dust, and finding red scarves in the snow, he couldn’t shake the feeling of having a happier bond with the kid. Trust, friendship… misplaced as that was.

 His ‘gut’ instinct was in that direction, but he had to keep other possibilities in mind. It was still possible that he was just picking up on the kid’s potential for goodness. He hoped so, for Papyrus’s sake. But that just didn’t click as well.

 And again, he might still just be going crazy, and dragging his brother down with him. Goodness knows he’d felt that way more than once. Timelines? Anomalies? Outside of sci-fi? For real? Add ‘resets’ to all that, and it sounded bonkers enough to give anyone nightmares. Papyrus had been forced to deal with all that. The kid looking similar could be their own minds latching onto the first human they’d ever seen. Really, a slow descent into insanity sounded like the best option.

 He rubbed his skull, thoughts drifting back to those weird letters on Alphy’s desk. Something nagged at him about that, but it had more to do with how strange the royal scientist had been acting than any weird feelings that could be residue from past timelines. He wasn’t sure what he should be the most worried about. Because… if the kid had killed them after befriending them a bunch of times, if it was curiosity, or boredom, or just a power rush, then… did any of their choices here actually matter?

 He had too much evidence to support the timeline theory to abandon it now, no matter how much of a relief that would be. Because those resets, if it was those resets that led them all here, then this ‘Chara’cter’s plan to erase the world wasn’t the only danger they faced; they were in danger as long as resets themselves existed. Oh sure, the kid was happy enough to work with them now that there were consequences, but statistically, the more times an act is repeated, the more hardened to it you become. So ultimately… what they’d done to drive Chara to erase everything would be repeated. And eventually, after being looped over, and over, never getting anywhere, living the same period of time over, and over again… it could very well all end up being for nothing. As long as the resets existed, then whoever could bend them to their will would be able to keep them trapped like this. Puppets, for their amusement.

 “Sans?”

“SHHH… MY BROTHER IS HAVING ONE OF HIS ‘PENSIVE’ MOODS. IT’S BEST TO LET HIM WORK THROUGH THEM, EVEN THOUGH IT TIRES HIM OUT.”

  ***heh, ‘s alright. sup, kiddo?**

 “I just wanted to know if you're okay. You look like you have a headache or something.”

 Heh, no matter what was going on, that one word pretty much wrapped it up. ** *yeah, that sounds about right. **

 “Are you okay? Can we get you something? Do you need a break?”

 He smiled at the kid, and reached over to rub the messy head of hair. ** *i’ll survive.**

 “INDEED. BUT I MUST SAY THAT YOU’RE DOING REMARKABLY WELL FOR YOU, SANS.”

 He choked on the laugh. ** *thanks, pap. **

 “BESIDES! THERE IS BUT ONE WAY TO CHEER UP A PENSIVE SANS!”

 Two familiar arms wrapped around him from behind, and lifted him into a tight hug. ** *papyrus! pffft! **

  “YOU SEE, FRISK? IT IS BOTH SIMPLE AND EFFECTIVE!”  Papyrus set him back on his feet, giving his head two pats to conclude the demonstration.

 He shoved his hands back into his pockets. ** *works every time. ** And it did, too, like all the Great Papyrus remedies. Even the spaghetti could cheer him out of a depressing science slump, no matter how inedible it might actually be.

 Frisk’s smile faded to something akin to dark remembrance. Yeah… if he was going insane, the kid was shoving him along that path; time traveling abilities or not.

 Instead of dwelling on it, he turned to grin up at his brother, but Frisk was ready to talk.

 “I know I did it, but… I still can’t believe I let it get so far. How could I kill you guys?”

 So killing in general wasn’t hard to think about anymore, just killing _them_. Nice to know.

 “PLEASE DON’T KEEP THINKING ABOUT IT, FRISK. YOU CANNOT ERASE YOUR PAST DECISIONS, BUT YOU CAN LOOK TO THE FUTURE.”

 “But… I’m not the only one that remembers it. How do you keep from thinking about it? About trying to spare me only to be… and you must’ve seen what I did to everyone when you came back. To Undyne… Mettaton…” the voice dropped, more guilty, quieter, ”… to Sans.”

Papyrus sighed.  “IT WOULD BE HARDER TO IGNORE IF THEY WERE NOT ALL ALIVE AND WELL. AND WHILE I CAN’T UNDERSTAND HOW YOU COULD DO WHAT YOU DID…” the gloved hand closed over Sans’s shoulder, and he reached up to put his hand on top of it,  “I CAN FORGIVE YOU.”

 Leave it to Paps… heh… which is what they were literally doing. That part of it wasn’t a bad plan at all. He couldn’t imagine feeling safer than if the future of all monster-kind actually rested on the kindness in Papyrus’s soul.

 Why couldn’t he ignore the catch? That human…

 “WAIT… ARE THOSE… CONVEYOR BELTS?! WHY ARE THERE SO MANY?!?!”

 Sans shrugged. There was an interesting and amusing story behind Papyrus’s dislike for conveyor belts. ** *so that nobody has to walk? **

 “THAT’S SO LAZY! SANS! WAS THIS YOUR IDEA?!”

 He shook his head, grinning sideways at his brother, and trying to remember which of them had started the ‘Sans is so lazy’ game. True as it was, it had always amused him to keep in mind that, compared to his never tiring, excitable bro, _anyone_ would come out looking lazy.

 Paps strove to put as much effort as he could into everything, while Sans preferred the path of least resistance himself. It was just how they’d always been. It didn’t mean that he _never_ gave 100%, and even Papyrus had to sleep _occasionally_.

 Like in Snowdin and Waterfall, a few monsters were glancing their way as the human passed, but nobody tried anything after giving the sentries half a glance. A few of them waved at him, and he returned a lazy nod when he noticed.

__

 Papyrus was noticing, and getting frustrated that, no matter where they went, people recognized Sans. That made about as much sense as the human, really. He supposed he was a likable enough sort of guy; he made sure to always have a whoopee cushion up his sleeve after all. But his brother had always been the special one. The guy with the style, who could, at any time of day, put maximum effort into anything, except hurting anyone. Paps could stop an attack instantly if it was going to take its target a fraction of a point below 1 hp. It had been a necessary skill for him, acquired from their early days of brotherly roughhousing… emphasis off the ‘rough’. He’d never had the best defense in the underground. But being gentle had been second nature to Papyrus.

__

 He froze as Frisk hugged him from behind, shocking him back to the task at hand.

__

 Papyrus covered his face, shaking his head. “THAT WAS A GOOD EFFORT, HUMAN, AND I’M GLAD THAT YOU WERE LISTENING. HOWEVER, A THOUGHTFUL SANS IS NOT NECESSARILY A PENSIVE SANS, AND HE DOESN’T ALWAYS REQUIRE BEING BROUGHT OUT OF IT. THOSE WERE HAPPIER THOUGHTS. IT CAN BE HARD TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE, WITH HIM GRINNING AWAY ALL THE TIME, BUT I CAN TELL.”

__

  ** *right again, pap. **

__

 The kid considered that for a moment, then nodded. “You were thinking about how cool Papyrus is, weren’t you?”

__

 Did the kid really know him that well? Or was the human only saying that for Papyrus’s sake?  ***am i wearing a shirt under my hoodie?**

__

 “YES, SANS. WHY WOULD YOU EVEN ASK SUCH A QUESTION.”

__

 He winked.  ***cause you guys are both seeing right through me.**

__

 “WELL, IT’S ONLY NATURAL FOR YOU TO BE THINKING ABOUT… SANS! MUST YOU?”

__

 He chuckled.  ***sorry, bro. you’re the one who always says i should be more ‘pun’ctual.**

__

 “SANS!!!”  His brother’s voice raised as he stomped his foot. That was an overreaction for a follow-up pun. Either Paps was still trying to cheer him up, or he was just in a better mood after that rescue hug, too.

__

 There were a bunch of conveyor belts, a nice view of the core… nothing he hadn’t seen before. Course, Papyrus wasn’t wrong. Lately, if he didn’t just shortcut to his stations, he took the elevator. But the kid had gone this way so he figured there was a reason for that.

__

 “Sans?” Frisk was taking advantage of Papyrus’s distraction with the view. “I can tell you what I know, and… that way, you can decide what to tell Papyrus.”

__

 Tempting. Get confirmation of his suspicions, and at the same time, pick and chose what his too-big-hearted little brother had to hear. Very tempting.  ***naw.**

__

 Frisk blinked in surprise. “What?”

__

  ***look i don’t know how many times we’ve done this, and i don’t care. you picked papyrus for this, and i’m not going to go behind his back. he needs to know what he’s really trying to fix.**

__

 “But, Sans…”

__

  ***nope. we’re done here. you know you’re gonna have to tell him eventually.**

__

 “It’s going to crush him.”

__

 He didn’t like the implication that the kid was suddenly more concerned over Papyrus’s well being than he was.

__

 “I know, I know… but… I wish… I…”

__

  ***wishing ain’t gonna change anything. and that’s what you want to do, right?**

__

 “Yes.”

__

  ***then it’s time for some change. i’m guessing this isn’t something you’ve ever discussed with him before. can’t say that i blame ya. but you gave him your determination, something that’s extremely dangerous to monsters, i might add. look, i’m more than willing to let bygones be bygones. too lazy to hold a grudge over something i can’t even remember. but the fact is, we’re only here because you proved how much LOVE you really have for us, so pretend for pap all you want, but keep in mind…**

__

 He closed his eyes, and made sure the light was drained out of them before he opened them again.

__

  ***… H e’s a  h e c k o f a  l o t  s m a r t e r  t h a n  y o u  g i v e  h i m  c r e d i t  f o r. **

__

 

__

 

__


	17. Chapter 17

Wowie! Why hadn’t he come to Hotland before now? So far he’d helped Frisk, cheered up Sans, and met Mettaton, live on his show!

He could have sworn that he heard Sans talking in a threatening voice just then, but when he turned to check, they both grinned happily at him. 

He decided to let them be. Sans usually gave good advice… and Papyrus was sure he could counteract the ‘take a break’ bad influence later if need be. 

Another monster waved in their direction. What was it about Sans, anyway? A lot of monsters seemed to recognize his brother. It was like they were walking through Grillby’s, or something. Sans didn’t even have to wear cool clothes, or be one of the royal guards. 

It would be nice to be able to pinpoint exactly which quality people were so drawn to. He’d asked Undyne about it once, but she hadn’t been able to help because she didn’t understand it, either. She’d suggested trying to try to look at him through a stranger’s eyes, but it was nearly impossible to try to imagine Sans not being his brother. Besides, when you removed the laziness, and the bad puns, and the boring science stuff, then what else was there about Sans that made him Sans? It wasn’t like the other people got read to. He’d never heard Sans say that anyone else was cool in his entire life! 

He didn’t have time to ponder it further, because Frisk was leading them through some almost complicated looking puzzles. Dr. Alphys was trying to help, even though the phone almost seemed to distract Frisk more than anything.

He didn’t have time to offer much of his expert advice, either, because in between phone calls, Frisk powered through the puzzles like they were the one that designed them. 

** *whatdaya think of hotland, bro? **

Before he could answer, a monster hurried up. “Hey, Sans! Where’ve you been? I missed lunch because of you yesterday, and you didn’t make it to the resort.”

His… that’s right. Sans had that comedy act. How could he have forgotten? He’d never made it to an actual show, and Sans had told him that it was fine because he practiced all his material on Papyrus anyway, but it had totally slipped his mind that Sans had missed his act to stand sentry watch with him last night. 

** *heh, guess that makes me a ‘no show’, huh? **

It took the monster a second to realize what had just happened. When he did, he made a visible effort not to roll his eyes that only made Sans grin harder. “So you heading for your stand or not?”

** *change of schedule for today. we’ll probably swing by there, but i’m not gonna open up or anything. **

“Alright. I’ll go wait there then… just in case.” The monster hurried off ahead of them. 

Papyrus had intended to bring up the missed show before anything else, but that last bit… he had a bone to pick with his brother about that. “SANS… WHAT WAS HE TALKING ABOUT? DID HE JUST CALL YOUR SENTRY STATION A STAND? YOU SHOULD HAVE CORRECTED HIM.”

Sans pretended to clear his throat, but he was still grinning like there was a hidden humor in the air.  ** *honest mistake, bro. don’t worry about it. **

“I SUPPOSE… SANS?”

** *sup? **

If Sans wasn’t going to come clean, which really wasn’t all that surprising anyway, then they’d address it later.  “I’M SORRY THAT YOU MISSED YOUR SHOW LAST NIGHT. AND MORE SORRY THAT I FORGOT ABOUT IT UNTIL A STRANGER REMINDED ME.”

The humor waned from his brother’s eyes.  ** *don’t beat yourself up about it, pap. i completely forgot about it until just now, too. it wasn’t like it was important or anything. **

He tapped his gloves together.  “ARE YOU SURE IT WASN’T IMPORTANT TO YOU?”

The grin was back, full force.  ** *bro, i _am_ a comedy act. don’t need a show for that, right? don’t worry about it. **

If Sans was lying, he was doing a REALLY good job, but he didn’t think his brother was trying to hide any real sense of disappointment. He didn’t really understand… if Papyrus had had an opportunity like that, even to stand around making terrible jokes, (not that the great Papyrus's jokes would fall into the terrible catagory) he would have been disappointed to miss out on it. But Sans didn’t share his desire for fame and recognition. 

** *really, paps. i wouldn’t have bailed on you last night for anything, and that routine was nothin’. **

“BUT, PEOPLE WANTED TO SEE IT.”

Sans shrugged, like that didn’t matter to him.  ***eh, i’m sure nobody really wanted to sit around and listen to my jokes. besides, i didn’t miss out on performing for my favorite audience.**

He hadn’t?  “REALLY? WELL AT LEAST… WAIT… WHO’S THAT?”

** *’s you, bro. **

“I DON’T COUNT!”

Sans shrugged.  ** *sure you do.  ** He looked like he was going to add something, but thought better of it. Sans always knew when to push a point. Right now, he just needed to make sure his brother wasn’t hiding any dreams of fame; not a reminder that Sans would always be his biggest fan. He knew Sans. Didn’t he? Why couldn’t he just let this go? Why the doubt? Sure, he’d learned a few, unsettling things but…  'He fell ASLEEP in the middle of the battle' 

****

He winced, blocking the words out. That battle… watching Sans make a genuine effort to help, thinking about what had happened… he’d been paying more attention to Sans than he could remember doing for a long time, and it was forcing him to acknowledge that some of the things he knew about his brother weren’t as exact as he once prided himself on. How had the resets taken their toll on them all?

****

He would have asked Sans, then and there if he could remember how things had been, really, before the resets, but the room they were walking into was pitch black.

****

Dr. Alphys was quick to get the lights on. “Oh no!”

****

_“OHHHH YES! WELCOME BACK, BEAUTIES, TO THE UNDERGROUND’S PREMIER COOKING SHOW, COOKING WITH A KILLER ROBOT!”_

****

They were back on Mettaton’s show… his cooking show, no less! And Papyrus just happened to be a master chef! It was certainly a good thing he hadn’t skipped his cooking lesson yesterday! He glanced at Sans, barely able to contain his excitement. His brother just grinned at him.

****

_ “NOW WE HAD A PROGRAM SET IN CASE WE EVER GOT A HUMAN GUEST STAR, BUT TODAY IS TODAY… AND YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS, DARLINGS! TODAY IS THE DAY WE MAKE…” _

****

“A NEW METTATON BRAND FOOD TO BE FEATURED IN YOUR RESTAURANT!”

****

_“WELL, IT LOOKS AS IF OUR ATTENTIVE TRIVIA MASTER HAS RETURNED FOR ANOTHER SHOW.”_

****

“I’M A MASTER CHEF AS WELL, METTATON! I NEVER MISS AN EPISODE!”

****

_“WELL, IN THAT CASE, DARLING… I’LL LET YOU PICK THE MENU ITEM OF THE MONTH.”_

****

There was really only one answer… he couldn’t wait to see how grateful the Underground would be. “SPAGHETTI!”

****

He caught the look of dismay Frisk gave Sans out of the corner of his eye, but it was so fast, he must have been mistaken.

****

_“WELL COME RIGHT UP HERE, AND LET’S GET STARTED, DARLING! AND LET’S NOT FORGET OUR LOVELY ASSISTANT!”_ __

**____ **

Confetti fell on Frisk’s head, messing up the kitchen a bit, but it vanished as if by magic.

**____ **

Sans shook his head with a grin as he propped himself up against the wall, just off camera.

**____ **

_ “WELL, DARLING? WHERE DO WE START?” _

**____ **

“FRISK, WOULD YOU HELP ME FIND THE RIGHT INGREDIENTS FOR THE SAUCE?”

**____ **

Frisk nodded, and scurried to the fridge.

**____ **

“YOU SEE, THE PROPER WAY TO BEGIN IS TO SMASH THE VEGETABLES.”

**____ **

_“SMASH THEM, YOU SAY? HOW INTERESTING… IS IT VIOLENT?”_

**____ **

“OH YES. IT CAN BE QUITE VIOLENT. WE HAVE TO SMASH IT LIKE WE MEAN IT, AS… MY TEACHER SAYS.” Oops, he’d remembered just in time that his lessons were a secret! As much as he’d like to give Undyne credit, he’d have to be careful.

**____ **

_ “FASCINATING, DARLING! AND JUST HOW DO WE GO ABOUT THIS?” _

**____ **

He smiled at Frisk as the human raced back, arms full of the right ingredients.  “THANK YOU, FRISK! NOW THEN, WE START LIKE THIS!” He smashed his fist into the pile of vegetables, splattering them everywhere.

**____ **

Mettaton was perfectly still for a second.  _“I LOVE YOUR STYLE, DARLING!”_

**____ **

During the next few minutes, he and Mettaton smashed every single vegetable in the kitchen area. The robot was content to use his hands at first, but things escalated quickly when Mettaton pulled a chainsaw out from under the cupboard, starting it up, and going after pieces of vegetables with a vengeance. It was a rather huge mess… everything was splattered… the counters, the floor, the fridge, Sans, Frisk, Mettaton, himself, the ceiling….

**____ **

_ “WHAT FUN! NOW WHAT DO WE DO NEXT?” _

**_____ _ **

He struck a pose.  “NEXT, WE SHALL REQUIRE, A BOX OF SPAGHETTI!”

**_____ _ **

Frisk ran to get one, and came back, slamming it into a pot. “Geeettttttt…” The human broke off mid-comment, and gave Sans a horrified look, but his brother just looked a little confused.

**_____ _ **

Mettaton was really getting into this. _ “YES! SLAM IT IN THERE! WE NEED MORE INGREDIENTS!” _

**_____ _ **

“UM, JUST WATER, ACTUALLY…”

**_____ _ **

But it was too late. Mettaton began grabbing everything in reach to slam into the pot, and it wasn’t long before Frisk was helping again, having a great time. It was Mettaton’s show, anyway, so Papyrus joined in, even though there was no way _any_ recipe for spaghetti called for a carton of eggs, or milk, or… was that a can of dog food? As he turned around to make certain that his brother hadn’t been crammed into the pot, there was a horrible, metallic grinding sound. He spun around in time to watch a large portion of the kitchen sink sail overhead, and land in the pot, jarring several other ingredients out.

**_____ _ **

Frisk was laughing too hard to help, at this point, and he decided that Mettaton’s enthusiasm for the project at hand outweighed the fact that he wasn’t really getting the point. 

**_____ _ **

When the pot was crammed full, Mettaton turned to him, awaiting further instructions, which was way cool! He tried to sound as humble as he could as he showed off his mastery of the culinary arts. “NOW WE STIR, LIKE THIS!”

**_____ _ **

He summoned a bone attack, and rammed it forcefully into the ingredients in the pot, then stepped aside to give Frisk and Mettaton a turn.

**_____ _ **

The star of the Underground applauded, before sending an attack of his own.  _ “THIS WILL STIR THINGS UP!” _

**_____ _ **

Frisk pushed a stool over, and climbed onto it, then began to use a mixing spoon to stir.

**_____ _ **

“THAT’S IT, FRISK! STIR HARDER!”

**_____ _ **

_ “HARDER, BEAUTIFUL! STIR IT LIKE YOU MEAN IT! WAIT, WAIT… LET ME HANDLE THIS!”  _ This time, Mettaton pulled out a jackhammer. Odd cooking utensils, but he was sure Undyne would approve. Maybe not… since the jackhammer didn’t do nearly as much damage to the pot as one of her spear attacks.

**_____ _ **

“AND WE NEED MORE HEAT, TOO!”

**_____ _ **

_ “I’VE GOT JUST THE THING, DARLING!” _

**_______ _ _ _ **

Undyne would love this! He wished she could be here, though, she probably didn’t care about being on Mettaton’s show much more than Sans did. He glanced over at his brother, thinking about asking him to join in, but Sans was still leaned contentedly against the wall, sauce splattered on his face, a stray projectile a few feet from his head, just enjoying the show. It was doubtful that he could look much happier under the circumstances.

**_______ _ _ _ **

“Um, Mettaton… that might be a little too much… no!”

**_______ _ _ _ **

_ “OHHHHH YES!” _

**_______ _ _ _ **

He turned as Mettaton cranked up the heat with a flourish, setting off some hidden trap that might have been intended for them at some point. Then he pulled a flamethrower from one of the empty looking cupboards, and aimed it directly at the pot. The stove top burst into flames, and the lights flickered out as the sprinkler system activated.

**_______ _ _ _ **

An umbrella deployed to protect Mettaton from the sprinkler, and not long after, the lights came back on.

**_______ _ _ _ **

What was left of the pot of ‘spaghetti’ looked more like one of the earlier combinations he and Undyne had put together, in that, it didn’t really resemble spaghetti. That was to be expected, of course, seeing how it was Mettaton’s first time making the dish, and only Frisk’s second. 

**_______ _ _ _ **

He considered that he might have gotten a little carried away himself, as half of the stove-top fell in, leaving the now molten pot at an odd angle. 

**_______ _ _ _ **

The rest of the kitchen was in a similar state, but it didn’t bother any of his companions, so he ignored it.

**_______ _ _ _ **

_ “WONDERFUL! YOU KNOW, BEAUTIFUL, I’M SUPPOSED TO TRY TO DESTROY YOU NOW, BUT AFTER THAT, I JUST CAN’T BRING MYSELF TO DO IT. CIAO, DARLINGS!” _

**_______ _ _ _ **

Mettaton wheeled off set, waving until the cameras deactivated. 

**_______ _ _ _ **

Papyrus stooped down to hug the human, and Frisk returned it enthusiastically.  “YOU SEE, HUMAN? I KNEW THAT MAKING SPAGHETTI WOULD HELP METTATON TO SEE WHAT A GOOD FRIEND YOU ARE.”

**_______ _ _ _ **

Frisk hugged him tighter. “Thank you, Papyrus. I’ll bet this was his best show ever. And I think you were an even bigger star than him today.”

**_______ _ _ _ **

He felt himself blush.  “WOWIE… I’LL HAVE TO BE CAREFUL IF WE END UP ON ANOTHER SHOW. I DON’T WANT TO STEP ON ANY TOES.”

**_______ _ _ _ **

Sans had joined them at his usual, lazy pace.  ** *don’t you mean you don’t want to step on any ‘wheels’, bro? **

**_______ _ _ _ **

He rolled his eyes as he whisked out a clean napkin to wipe the splatter from Frisk’s face, then his own. As Frisk skipped off, he shook his head at his brother. “COME HERE.”

**_______ _ _ _ **

He wiped the splatter from Sans’s grinning face, wondering if his brother realized how unsettling the red in the corner of his mouth was.

**_______ _ _ _ **

That thought alone was enough to remind him of his concerns. He closed his eyes with a sigh.

**_______ _ _ _ **

** *papyrus? **

**_______ _ _ _ **

When he opened his eyes again, the amusement in his brother’s eyes had been replaced by concern.  ** *what’s the matter? i thought everything was going good. **

**_______ _ _ _ **

“IT’S ALL GOING VERY WELL. I’M IMPRESSED WITH THE HUMAN’S BEHAVIOR, AND THE OTHER MONSTERS HAVEN’T GIVEN US MUCH PROBLEM…”

**_______ _ _ _ **

** *but it’s not that, is it? c’mon. what’s bugging ya? you’ve been looking at me funny since yesterday. **

**_______ _ _ _ **

Drat! He hadn’t been stealthy enough. How was he to know Sans wouldn’t be too lazy to notice? But perhaps it was silly to ignore the issue. The worst thing that could happen would be for Sans to lie to him outright. He doubted that Sans needed him to explain the part about being a little extra overprotective due to the cirrcumstances of the reset.  “IT’S JUST… I NEVER REALIZED… THE THING IS… WE’RE BROTHERS.”

**_______ _ _ _ **

** *yep. **

**_______ _ _ _ **

He frowned.  “THAT’S MY POINT. WE'RE BROTHERS. END OF STORY. WE KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT EACH OTHER. AT LEAST... THAT'S HOW I'VE ALWAYS FELT ABOUT IT.”  He glanced over Sans’s head to make sure that Frisk hadn’t gone on without them. The human was waiting politely out of hearing range.  “BUT… I DON’T FEEL AS CONFIDENT THAT I KNOW YOU ANYMORE. NOT REALLY.”

**_______ _ _ _ **

Sans sighed.  ***that’s what’s had you looking so gloomy?**

**_______ _ _ _ **

He nodded.  “YOU KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT ME. IT’S NOT LIKE YOU HAVEN’T ALWAYS HAD YOUR SECRETS, AND THE THINGS I FOUND TOO BORING TO TALK ABOUT, BUT… I USED TO THINK THAT…” he trailed off with a sad shrug. 

**_______ _ _ _ **

Sans put his hand on his shoulder.  ** *papyrus, nobody knows me better than you, alright? look at me. it’s me, ok? do i keep stuff secret sometimes, mostly because i’m planning a prank? sure. but you know that. ‘cause you know the important stuff. you know me. **

**_______ _ _ _ **

“REALLY?”

**_______ _ _ _ **

** *c’mon, papyrus… **

**_______ _ _ _ **

Papyrus gave a sigh of relief, and laughed to himself over his own silliness. Sans was absolutely right. Not even brothers as close as them knew _EVERYTHING_ about each other all the time, only the important stuff. He pulled Sans closer to hug him. Being a little hard to read sometimes was just another one of the things that made his brother Sans. And being able to see through almost all of that was just one of the things that made _him_ The Great Papyrus.

**_______ _ _ _ **

Sans chuckled, and patted him on the shoulder.  ** *c’mon. you’re doing great. **

**_______ _ _ _ **

He beamed in agreement as they started off through Hotland once again.

**_______ _ _ _ **


	18. Chapter 18

Papyrus felt considerably better as the three of them walked along together. If Sans was still worried at all, it didn’t show. Frisk seemed to waver between happy and sad, but that wasn’t so unusual, all things considered. And more monsters were turning to take a second look as they went past. He didn’t want to assume that was because they’d been on tv or anything, but it was probably because they’d been on tv.

He started humming as he walked along, trying to just be himself, and therefore, cool. Just to make sure, he glanced down at Sans. When he saw the admiration in his brother’s face, he knew he was being pretty Papyrus, and that made him feel more at ease.

They got into the elevator and rode it to the next level. R2, whatever that meant. They walked out, and he stopped short at the sight of two monsters waiting in line at Sans’s station up ahead.

To his dismay, Sans walked calmly up to his station, and created some ‘hotdogs’ out of water sausages, and exchanged them for gold. The first monster was the one that had spoken to them earlier. He seemed a bit miffed about the wait, but the second monster was just delighted to hold the ‘hotdog’. 

Frisk ran up to the sentry post with a smile. Sans winked.  ** *heh, i was gonna bring ya one anyway, kiddo. **

Sans handed Frisk a hotdog and held another one out, aimed higher, not bothering to look as Papyrus crossed his arms and tried to loom over him, even though he’d already decided that maybe they didn’t have to do this RIGHT now.  “SANS, WE CAN TALK ABOUT THIS LATER. LUCKILY FOR YOU, I HAVE OTHER THINGS ON MY MIND RIGHT NOW.”

Sans just kept grinning, holding out a cooked water sausage without a bun.  ** *so, you wanna head-dog instead, bro? **

As if he were going to let Sans balance any more food on his head.  “COME ALONG. LET’S GO BEFORE ANYONE ELSE FINDS OUT ABOUT THIS.” 

Even though he couldn’t approve of his brother slacking off in any capacity, at least Sans had been resourceful about this particular slack off. If you thought about it, selling hotdogs didn’t stop him from watching his post, and actually required more effort than just standing watch. He’d have to remember to mention that when he scolded his brother for turning a respectable guard post into little more than a hotdog cart. Sans was still holding out the hotdog, and since his brother wasn't _technically_ on duty... Papyrus begrudingly snatched it. Hotdogs were nearly as impossible to resist as spahgetti, after all. 

Something else started humming… no wait! That was his ringtone! Someone was actually calling him! He wondered who it could be while he pulled out his phone. When he saw that the screen read ‘Undyne’, he wasn’t surprised since Sans and the human were right there… though, Sans _had_ been known to call him from the kitchen while Papyrus was cleaning in the living room to ask for a bag of chips…

At the second ring, he held the phone up.  “HELLO! YOU’VE REACHED THE GREAT PAPYRUS!”

There was a smile in her voice, but she sounded a little uncomfortable. “Hiya, Papyrus… I uh, saw you on tv. Not that I usually watch Mettaton’s show! But, um, well, it’s kinda boring here without you guys, and Alphys called and said you were on, so…”

“REALLY? DID YOU SEE THE COOKING ONE? I WAS THINKING ABOUT YOU. I’M SORRY THAT I COULDN’T TELL METTATON WHO TAUGHT ME TO COOK.”

She laughed. “Yeah, that’s the one I saw. You were really great, Papyrus. The human didn’t do half bad either. Heck, you might just be the one that finally taught Mettaton a thing or two about entertainment! That was certainly the best show of his that I’ve ever seen.”

He glowed with the praise.  “WOWIE!!! THANKS, UNDYNE!”

Her voice started to sound funny again. “Yeah, don’t worry about it, but… listen… I’m not the only one that saw that show.”

“I KNOW! OTHER MONSTERS HAVE BEEN NOTICING. ISN’T THAT WONDERFUL?”

“Maybe… and maybe not. What if they get the wrong idea about you helping the human? I mean… I know better, but… some of them might think that, you know… you’re…”

“THAT I’M WORKING WITH THE HUMAN TO SAVE THE UNDERGROUND?”

“No, Papyrus… it looks like you’re betraying the Underground. Because keeping the human alive, is, in fact, the opposite of what everyone’s been building up hope for, for a very long time.”

His spirits fell for a moment. “OH.” He took a deep breath, and shook it off, bravely.  “WELL, THAT IS UNFORTUNATE, BUT EVEN IF THAT’S WHAT THEY’LL THINK OF ME, IT’S A RISK I MUST TAKE.”

“How sure about this are you, Papyrus? I mean, yeah, I met the punk… I can see why you want to help. But not taking the human’s soul, AND openly escorting them to the king? It’s just asking for trouble. What about becoming a member of the royal guard?”

She certainly knew how to make him think. But considering what could happen, never becoming a member of the royal guard was also a price he was willing to pay. She didn’t understand, and he couldn’t bring himself to tell her. For her sake, and not because he was a little afraid of what she might decide to do to Frisk if she ever found out.  “THIS IS MORE IMPORTANT. PLEASE, TRUST ME.”

The line went silent. He knew she hadn’t hung up, because she would have done that with an enraged yell, so he waited patiently. 

There was a heavy sigh. “I  _do_ trust you. I just… I wanted to make sure you weren’t so eager to help the punk, you were rushing ahead without considering the consequences.”

“I UNDERSTAND. THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONCERN, UNDYNE, BUT YOU DO NOT HAVE TO WORRY.”

“I guess. Hey, is Sans still with you?”

“YES. HE’S RIGHT HERE. WOULD YOU LIKE TO SPEAK TO HIM ABOUT NOT BEING AT HIS POST?”

“Naw. I figured he wouldn’t be back. If he’s just gonna stand by and let you do your thing, I guess I can, too. I’m surprised at him, though.”

“FOR WHAT?”

“I don’t really know. I guess I just assumed that he’d always be on your side. Did he at least try to talk you out of it?”

“OF COURSE SANS IS ON MY SIDE.” He shook his head in confusion. Undyne really must be bored. She wasn’t making much sense. Sans glanced up, probably wondering what was going on.  “WE TALKED THINGS OVER, BUT HELPING THE HUMAN IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO, AND THAT’S WHAT WE’RE DOING.”

“Alright.” She sounded sad. “Like I said, it’s nothing against the punk. I just… I’d hate to see you give up on your dreams, Papyrus. Listen, I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

“ALRIGHT THEN.” He waited for another comment, but her end of the line clicked. He sighed as he put his phone away, then glanced down at his brother. 

“THAT WAS UNDYNE. SHE’S WORRIED THAT THE OTHER MONSTERS MIGHT THINK THAT WE ARE BETRAYING THEM. AND, SHE SAID SHE DIDN’T WANT ME TO GIVE UP ON MY DREAM.”

Sans shrugged without taking his hands out of his pockets.  ** *’course she doesn’t. **

“BUT SHE SAID SHE DIDN’T THINK IT WOULD EVER HAPPEN. NOT NOW… YOU REMEMBER.”

** *yeah… but she knows that if anyone’s cool enough to overcome impossible odds, it’s you. you know it, i know it… even the kid knows it… but that’s not what’s bothering you, huh? **

Papyrus hugged his arms around himself. “I KNOW UNDYNE MEANS WELL, BUT IF SHE HAS DOUBTS ABOUT MY ABILITY TO BE A ROYAL GUARD, SHE SHOULD HAVE JUST TOLD ME. WE COULD HAVE TALKED THINGS OUT. AND FRISK … IS STILL NOT READY TO TALK TO ME. BUT, I GET THE FEELING THAT THEY DON’T EVEN KNOW THAT I REALIZE IT.”

Sans’s voice was gentle.  ** *give ‘em, time, buddy.  ** His brother paused to think, and for a moment, he believed that he was about to hear an inspiring speech.  ***the rest of us aren’t like you. we make mistakes.**

He tried to fight the wry smirk, but he just couldn’t. It was one thing to encourage the human, but he’d never tried to claim that the Great Papyrus had NEVER made a single mistake, and if anyone knew about those blunders, it was the brother grinning sideways at him.

He gave Sans a playful shove, and Sans responded by elbowing him as they walked along. Undyne wasn’t trying to lie to him. She was just worried about him, like the good friend she was. It was mostly the human he was worried about. Surely Frisk had been given plenty of time to find the right words. He wanted to be a good friend, but he couldn’t really do that if… 

** *ask again. **

“WHAT?”

** *ask the kid again. push harder; find out what’s buggin ‘em. **

“YOU MEAN LIKE YOU DO WHEN I DON’T WANT TO TALK?”

** *yeah, only more… papyrus-like. **

He shook his head.  “THAT SHOULDN’T BE HARD.”

Up ahead of them, Frisk was having a different phone conversation. It sounded like Alphys on the other end of the line. The human wasn’t paying much attention. “Alright. Thanks. Bye… Hey, Papyrus.”

“HELLO, FRISK. NOW, I KNOW YOU HAVE A LOT ON YOUR MIND RIGHT NOW, BUT THAT REALLY MEANS THAT YOU SHOULD BE EVEN MORE READY TO TELL ME WHAT’S BOTHERING YOU, BECAUSE IF YOU SHARE THE LOAD, IT WILL MAKE IT LIGHTER, AND…”

He was distracted from his enlightening speech as they rounded the corner, and found Mettaton waiting for them, yet again. Almost as if they were eager to get away from him, Frisk ran ahead. He shook his head. Fine. ONE more obstacle, and then he was going right back to his… Wowie! It was the news show.

“ _ HAVE YOU FOUND SOMETHING TO REPORT ON YET, DARLING?” _

Frisk was walking towards a boring old glass of water, but his expert eyes spied something far more interesting. “WAIT HUMAN, LOOK AT THIS! IT’S THE LATEST GUARANTEED-NOT-TO-BOMB FILM: METTATON THE MOVIE XXVIII... STARING METTATON! PICK THIS ONE, FRISK! SNEAK PEAKS OF UPCOMING METTATON FILMS ARE SOME OF THE BIGGEST STORIES WE HAVE IN THE UNDERGROUND!”

_ “I COULDN’T HAVE PUT IT BETTER MYSELF.” _

“Sure, Papyrus.” Dr. Alphys was on the phone again, and Frisk clicked it to speaker, looking ready to sprint for some reason. “D-don’t worry! I- I can…”

_ “LET’S HAVE A LOOK AT SOME SPECIAL SCENES, SHALL WE? OHHHH YES! IT LOOKS LIKE ANOTHER THRILLER! WHAT A GORGEOUS LOOKING STAR!” _ Mettaton paused, looking from Papyrus to Frisk, then suddenly backed off, waving. _“THAT CONCLUDES OUR NEWS PROGRAM FOR TODAY. LATER, BEAUTIES!”_

“W-wait… wh-what?!”

** *’s matter, alphys? you sound like you thought… **

Dr. Alphys sounded annoyed. “L-like it was an ‘explosive’ situation… I know.”

Sans looked confused, then got a pained look in his eyes as he realized that he’d somehow missed a chance for a pun.  ** *that’s not what i was gonna say… **

“Oh… w-well, of c-course n-not… I… I, um… cl-cleared the w-way for you… a-and… bye!” There was something about her voice… she sounded more… exasperated than she had before… which was strange, because they were doing super well!

He shrugged, making a note to ask Sans about it later. Which reminded him… it was time to resume his conversation with…  “FRISK? DON’T RUN AHEAD! COME BACK!”

The human was avoiding him. Still. But no matter… he was here to help. Sooner or later, Frisk would just have to see that.


	19. Chapter 19

They hurried to catch up to Frisk, his legs carrying him faster than his brother's.  “STOP. WE CAN’T GO ON LIKE THIS!”

The human stopped moving quite so fast. “I know. But… I need just a little more time, Papyrus. Please?”

Time. Did they have too much of it, or not enough? It was all so confusing.  “FRISK… I ONLY WANT TO HELP.”

“I know. And you are. You really, really are. I just can’t tell you right now, okay?”

The fight drained out of him as he sighed.  “ALRIGHT, FRISK. BUT PLEASE, BE THINKING ABOUT WHAT YOU NEED TO TELL ME. LET ME GIVE YOU A HINT… IT’S EVERYTHING.”

Frisk shuddered at that, but nodded. “I understand. Hey, we should slow down. We’re leaving Sans in the dust.”

“FRISK!!!” 

The human stopped in their tracks faster than he had.

Still a little shaken, he wagged a scolding finger. “I KNOW THAT SANS IS A TERRIBLE INFLUENCE WHEN IT COMES TO PUNS, BUT THAT WAS ENTIRELY INAPPROPRIATE, AND NOT FUNNY IN THE LEAST LITTLE WAY!”

The human took a step back. “What do you mean? Oh… n-no! Papyrus, I didn’t mean it like that at all! I just… it’s just a human expression.”

He crossed his arms, but tried to be understanding of the fact that humans might not realize what a cruel thing that was to say around monsters.  “YES, WELL, HERE, DUST IS NO LAUGHING MATTER.” 

Sans caught up to them, so he decided to spare the human any further scolding that would only become uncomfortable for the three of them. Besides, he wasn’t entirely sure that his brother wouldn’t latch on to the word just to make him uncomfortable. He could somehow imagine innocently cleaning the living room around his napping brother, and Sans opening one eye to ask if he was going to dust him. He shuddered, deciding that he definitely preferred to believe that it was a line even Sans wouldn’t cross.

His brother was giving them a calculating look.

** *… **

***so… what’s with the face, kiddo?**

Frisk ignored him, and nodded towards a rather pricey bake sale up ahead. 

** *muffet? no sweat. a tough negotiator, yeah, but… **

Frisk shook their head. “Actually, I’ve got this one, but thanks. Um… if it’s okay with you, Papyrus. It’ll make her happy.”

“WELL, THEN, GO RIGHT AHEAD, FRISK.” They watched as the child pulled out the cell phone Alphys had modified and went to wait in line.  “FRISK ASKED FOR MORE TIME.”

Sans shrugged.  ** *i know we _have_ to ask, and i gotta admit that this whole thing’s had me curious, but… if the kid’s gonna say anything like i think… **

He nodded. “I KNOW. IT WILL NOT BE EASY TO HEAR. AND YOU DON’T HAVE TO LISTEN. BUT I DO. I NEED TO KNOW WHAT I CAN DO TO HELP.”

Sans nodded.  ** *thanks. but i don’t think this is a conversation i can miss either. **

“JUST… TRY NOT TO GET DISCOURAGED IF IT’S SOMETHING BAD? FRISK CAN BE GOOD… I JUST KNOW IT.”

** *heh, discouraged, with you fixin’ things? naw. **

Sans  _did_ seem less depressed than he had at first. His brother couldn’t help but see the potential for good in the human, now. They just had to know exactly what they were dealing with, and then, they could leave the past behind them, and let it lie there forever.

For now, they stood there and watched as Frisk pulled several jugs of Spider Cider from the dimensional box in the phone Alphys gave them. “Here… I bought these from the spiders in the ruins, and I’d like to donate them to your cause.”

The spider monster’s whole demeanor changed immediately. “I… I heard such awful things about humans, but I can’t think of a single monster who’s helped us this much…” she turned to level a rather frightening glare at Sans, who just shrugged. She narrowed her eyes, then turned back to Frisk with a smile as she patted the human’s head. “Ahuhuhuhuhu… Whatever your fight with that overgrown calculator is about, I wish you good fortune.” 

Frisk smiled back. “Good luck with your bake sale.”

Muffet waved cheerily as they passed, and he blinked in surprise when he saw how much the goods were worth. Sans grinned at Frisk.  ** *nice one, kid. **

“INDEED, HUMAN, THAT WAS VERY KIND OF YOU TO HELP THOSE POOR SPIDERS! JUST IMAGINE HOW COSTLY IT WOULD BE TO HAVE THAT MANY FEET! IT’S HARD ENOUGH TO KEEP SANS’S SOCKS CLEAN, AND HE WEARS SLIPPERS HALF THE TIME. OF COURSE, THAT’S MOSTLY BECAUSE HE KEEPS THEM ALL IN HIS ROOM, OR ON OUR LIVING ROOM FLOOR IN PLAIN SIGHT OF EVERYONE WHO MIGHT COME TO VISIT…” He tried to mimic Muffet’s glare at Sans, but it seemed to affect his brother even less, if possible.  “…BUT I DON’T KNOW WHAT I’D DO IF HE HAD EIGHT LEGS.” 

They all pondered that mental image as they walked through a long, dark hall of spider webs. It was slow going through the middle, but it was a rather poor puzzle, all in all… you just had to keep walking through it. It would have been a much more clever ambush. 

The webs did cling to them awfully, though, and it took him a full three minutes to get them all cleared off. He decided that he was doubly glad that Sans wasn’t a spider monster, because he didn’t think he’d be able to stand webs AND extra socks everywhere… it was a nightmare!

He finished brushing off his boots, and stood up to study a poster of Mettaton.  “HMMM… I HAVE A FEELING WE’RE ABOUT TO BE ON TELEVISION AGAIN.”

Frisk was muttering something under their breath about blue and purple and yellow.

He was about to ask why, but just then, Mettaton rushed up, wearing, a flowing, light blue ball gown? His brother didn’t question it, and Frisk didn’t look surprised at all, so he just waited patiently while the robot star turned to him. 

_“EXCUSE ME, DARLING… I’M TERRIBLY SORRY, BUT I CAN’T SEEM TO REMEMBER YOUR NAME… SOMETHING THE GREAT, WASN’T IT?” _

Wowie! That was the part most people forgot!  “THE GREAT PAPYRUS!”

_ “EXCELLENT, DARLING. BEFORE WE BEGIN I WAS WONDERING IF YOU WOULD SING THIS IN THE BACKGROUND. THE TUNE IS VERY EASY TO PICK UP ON, HERE, TRY A VERSE.” _

A very catchy tune started up, just off set. Wondering how this was going to help Frisk, he did as he was asked.

 

“METTATON, 

IS IN OUR WAY,

HIS SHOW IS ON,

FOUR TIMES TODAY.

 

HE HAS TO,

PLAY OUT HIS PART.

EVEN IF,

WE’RE TORN APART.” 

 

He blinked at the lyrics he’d just sung, then glanced over at Sans, who shrugged.

_ “NO, NO, NO!!! THIS WON’T DO AT ALL! I DON’T MEAN YOU. YOU’LL BE GRAND, DARLING. BUT THIS SCENE… IT DOESN’T JUST NEED A BACKUP SINGER… NO… IT NEEDS, MORE DRAMA.”  _ Mettaton pressed his hand roughly to where his forehead would be, then snapped his fingers.  _ “THAT’S IT! I HAVE JUST THE THING! STAY HERE, AND I’LL BE RIGHT BACK!” _

He frowned at the paper in his hands.  “THESE ARE SO… HARSH.”

** *makes ya wonder what he’s got in mind now. **

“HOPEFULLY NOT MORE TEARING, OR ZAPPING, OR… SANS, MAYBE YOU SHOULD WAIT THIS ONE OUT IN CASE THINGS GET MESSY. I MAY HAVE TO PROTECT FRISK.”

_ “I’M BACK WITH YOUR NEW SCRIPT, BEAUTIES! HERE YOU ARE, AND I WAS GOING TO GET YOU A NEW COSTUME, BUT YOU LOOK FABULOUS, DARLING. I DID, HOWEVER, FIND THE PERFECT COSTUMES FOR THE TWO OF YOU.” _

Sans put his hands out to protect his face as Mettaton slid a sewn together pile of green plastic leaves over his head. “ _ THERE. YOU’LL MAKE A WONDERFUL BUSH, DARLING.” _

Papyrus tried to hide his laugh behind his hand to avoid embarrassing his brother as Metatton circled around behind him. There was a sound of rustling fabric as something red and silky, like a giant scarf, was thrown over his head. 

Blinded, he sputtered, and fought his way to stick his head out of the hole in the top, only to find that he was now wearing a glittering red dress, similar to Mettaton’s, if not quite so glamorous…

Sans laughed at him outright as Mettaton wheeled around the set.

_ “PLACES EVERYONE. YOU TWO… JUST… STAND THERE AND LOOK FABULOUS… NO, NO, NO, DARLING, THAT’S A BARRIER THAT’S GOING TO BE ACTIVATED WHEN WE START. YOU’VE GOT TO COME ON STAGE… NO, THAT’S A BARRIER, TOO. JUST… STAND HERE IN FRONT OF THE TOWER LIKE A BUSH… AS FOR YOU, BEAUTIFUL, YOU STAND IN THE MIDDLE, JUST LIKE THAT, AND FEEL FREE TO WALK AROUND TO MAKE IT MORE DRAMATIC! I’LL START UP HERE… DON’T WORRY ABOUT DROWNING ME OUT, DARLING, SING LOUD! LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION!” _

The same music started, and he focused on his part, which started in right after Mettaton’s.

 

_“CAN IT BE,_

_MY ONE TRUE LOVE?”_

.

 

_WHO IS THIS,_

_WITH YOU TODAY?_

_OH MY LOVE,_

_DON’T GO ASTRAY.”_

 

“I AM HERE,

TO CHALLENGE YOU,

TO FIND OUT, 

WHO’S LOVE IS TRUE.”

 

_“ARE YOU NOW?_

_WELL WE SHALL SEE._

_IN THE END,_

_THE VICTOR SHALL BE ME!”_

 

“YOUR VALOR IS,

OF GREAT RENOWN,

BUT I SHALL PROVE,

THAT THEIR LOVE IS MY OWN.”

 

His lyrics stopped there, and it was Mettaton’s turn, but he really didn’t want Frisk to get the wrong idea…

 

"OF COURSE I MEAN,

PLATONICALLY!

THIS HUMAN IS 

GOOD FRIENDS WITH ME.”

 

The ‘bush’ started to shake and at first, he thought Sans was improvising his own part, until he heard an almost silent chortle.

 

Mattaton threw his own paper aside, and lifted the hem of his dress as he descended the stairs with a loud KLUNK every time his wheel hit a step.

 

_“HA! ONLY,_

_A FRIEND YOU SAY?_

_I SHALL PROVE,_

_MY LOVE TODAY!”_

 

“WE SHALL SEE,

YOU’LL HAVE TO TRY.

BUT NO ONE IS,

A BETTER FRIEND THAN I.”

 

_“TRY I MUST,_

_I SHALL NOT FAIL!_

_YOU WILL KNOW,_

_HOW OUR TRUE LOVE PREVAILS!”_

 

“LOVE OF FRIENDS,

DO NOT FORGET!

I SHALL WIN,

THIS BATTLE YET!”

 

_“OH MY LOVE,_

_YOU MUST DECIDE!_

_WHICH ONE WILL,_

_BE YOUR HEART’S GUIDE?”_

 

“YES HUMAN,

YOU HAVE TO CHOOSE,

BUT WHO WILL WIN?

AND WHO WILL HAVE TO LOSE?”

 

The bush was doubled over, and shaking to its own snickering at this point. He tried to ignore how unprofessional his brother was being. 

The music was still going, and Frisk cut Mettaton off. 

 

“How could I,

Cause such a fuss,

‘tween Mettaton,

And the great Papyrus?”

 

_“OH MY LOVE,_

_DO YOU NOT SEE?_

_THE ONLY ONE FOR,_

_YOUR HEART IS ME.”_

 

“METTATON, 

WE SHOULD NOT FIGHT,

I BELIEVE,

FRISK WILL CHOOSE RIGHT.”

 

Frisk smiled and ran over to hold his hand.

 

_“WHAT IS THIS?_

_YOU WON’T CHOOSE ME?_

_OH MY LOVE,_

_HOWEVER CAN THIS BE?”_

 

“THE HUMAN,

MADE A GOOD CHOICE,

MY GREATNESS IS,

AS LOVELY AS MY VOICE.”

 

_“BUT MY LOVE,_

_DID YOU FORGET?_

_YOUR SOUL THE KING_

_IS OUT TO GET.”_

 

“WE MUST NOT,

JUST RUN AWAY.

WE WILL MAKE,

THINGS RIGHT TODAY.”

 

_“YOU HAVE SPURNED,_

_MY LOVE SO TRUE,_

_IT’S SO SAD THAT,_

_THERE’S ONLY ONE LAST THING TO DO._

 

_“SO SAD. SO SAD THAT YOU ARE GOING TO THE DUNGEON. WELL, TOODLES!”_

Mettaton pressed a button, and the three of them dropped down through trap doors to a giant version of the floor tile puzzle. Uh oh…  “FRISK, DO YOU STILL REMEMBER THE RULES?”

This puzzle was so much longer, and fifteen seconds was so short a time limit, and there were flames…

“NO! THE OTHER WAY, FRISK! NOT THAT BLUE TILE! IT’S RIGHT BY A YELLOW… THAT’S PURPLE!”

All in all, Frisk seemed to have it under control, racing through the whole puzzle so fast, he barely had time to help.

He cheered when Frisk finished with a few seconds left on the clock.  “YOU DID IT HUMAN! I’M A GOOD EXPLAINER.”

Mettaton almost looked relieved.  _“WELL, FAIR IS FAIR. YOU BEAT MY LITTLE PUZZLE, AND…”_

The human’s phone rang. “D-don’t f-fall for it! I-it’s a trap! B-but don’t worry! I made th-those upgrades t-to your phone, remember? P-press the yellow b-button.”

_“OH VERY WELL. THE WISE, INTELLIGENT, CRAFTY DR. ALPHYS HAS SEEN THROUGH MY STELLAR PERFORMANCE. YOU FORGOT ABOUT THOSE GREEN TILES, DIDN’T YOU? WELL, DO YOU REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU STEP ON ONE NOW? THAT’S RIGHT! YOU HAVE TO FIGHT A MONSTER. AND IT’S ME DARLING!”_

“H-hurry! Press the b-button!”

Frisk pressed the yellow button, and a little antenna with a ball on the end extended from the top of the phone.

“N-now point it at M-mettaton, and f-fire!”

What?!?  “STOP!”  He raced to throw himself in between them.  “HUMAN, YOU MUSTN’T! THAT WOULD BE VIOLENT, AND YOU KNOW THAT IT’S VERY DANGEROUS TO FIGHT MONSTERS WHO DON’T REALLY WANT TO FIGHT BACK.”

“N-no! It’s not l-like th-that. I…”

“AND METTATON, THE SONG YOU ASKED ME TO SING SAID THAT THERE’S ONE MORE SHOW. DON’T YOU NEED THE HUMAN FOR THAT?”

_“I HADN’T REALLY THOUGHT OF THAT…”_ There was something odd about the robot’s tone, but he ignored that to turn back to Frisk. 

“PLEASE…”

Frisk nodded. “Thanks Dr. Alphys, but we’re going to handle this a better way… The Great Papyrus way.”

“W-well I-I didn’t want anyone to g-get hurt…” Alphys sounded crushed as she hastily hung up. He felt badly for implying that she wanted to do a violence. He’d have to apologize for that later. He knew that she was trying to be as helpful as she knew how to be.

Mettaton looked confused.  _“YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE TO USE IT, DARLING. I WON’T BACK DOWN.”_

“Not even for your fans? What will happen to your ratings?”

“VERY GOOD, FRISK!”

_“YOU… CARE ABOUT MY RATINGS?”_

Frisk nodded. “I know that a lot of the monsters in the Underground wouldn’t know what to do without you. You’re important to them, and all of you are important to me.”

Mettaton was silent for a moment. Then he sprang to life in a display of dramatics. “ _OH NO! THE HUMAN HAS A LASER DESIGNED BY THE BRILLIANT DR. ALPHYS… I MUST FLEE TO HIGHER GROUND TO FIND THE BEST PLACE TO TAKE A DRAMATIC, ALL TELEVISED FINAL STAND…”_

Mettaton left, waving, and the cameras followed him out, leaving the three of them there alone. 

“YOU DID IT!” Papyrus scooped Frisk up, holding the human above his head.  “I AM SO PROUD OF YOU!”

Sans shuffled over, pulling the bush costume off of his head.  ** *i gotta hand it to ya, kiddo… you’re doing great. **

Frisk smiled widely, snuggling into Papyrus's shoulder before he set the little human down. Frisk’s smile waned a little bit. “Well, we should probably keep moving. Don’t want to keep the fans waiting, right? Oh… you did a good job singing, Papyrus.”

***yeah, bro. i was just gonna say that it was a ‘heated’ performance.**

He didn’t bother to yell, because it wasn’t even worth a yell. He just shook head, pressing a hand to his face.  “SANS… MUST YOU? NOW I DON’T FEEL BADLY FOR TELLING YOU THAT I THINK YOU COULD MAKE A MORE CONVINCING BUSH.”

***that was classic. i was shakin’ like a leaf.**

“SANS!!!”

His brother only winked at Frisk.  ** *bro? **

“WHAT IS IT NOW, SANS?”

Sans looked to the side, grinning.  ** *you’re still wearing the dress. **

“SANS!”  He really wasn’t sure how that was his brother’s fault. He pulled the dress off over his head, and got stuck trying to get back out. Frisk grabbed the bottom, and pulled it off to free him. “THANK YOU.”

He brushed as many of the red sparkles off as he could as he strutted towards the next room.


	20. Chapter 20

Sans let himself chuckle at the thought of Paps in that red dress, trying to make up rhymes to win the kid’s platonic affections for life, and somehow managing to look cool doing it. But that dress… he chuckled louder, earning a glare from his brother that only made him laugh harder.

“What’s so funny?” 

Papyrus made a ‘tsk’ noise.  “MY BROTHER IS STILL AMUSED THAT I WAS IN A DRESS ON TELEVISION.”

He laughed even harder.  ** *aw man, that was great… sorry, pap. you just… **

His bro held out a hand to stop him.  “NO, SANS. NO EXPLANATIONS, AND NO PUNS.”

Wait… that wasn’t his usual ‘NO PUNS’ tone. Had he ‘struck a nerve’ or something? He cleared throat, and reached out to brush off some of the sparkles that still clung to his brother.  ** *c’mon, papyrus, you know i’m just messin’ with ya. **

“WHAT? OH. NO. KEEP LAUGHING. REALLY.” Papyrus wasn’t being sarcastic, exactly, but his heart didn’t seem to be in what he was saying, either, judging by that flat tone.

** *papyrus… i’m not… **

His brother's sockets narrowed in irritation. “GO ON! I MEAN IT."  His tone softened slightly. "IT’S GOOD TO HEAR YOU LAUGH WITH EVERYTHING THAT’S GOING ON.”

** *i’m not gonna laugh when i know it’s hurting your feelings. ** Well, not for long, at least. 

“WHY WOULD THAT HURT MY FEELINGS?”

He swung his arm to gesture to his brother. ** *look at ya. you were all happy a second ago. i’m sorry, okay? **

Papyrus crossed his arms and rolled his eyes, indignace sweeping into his voice with a grand flourish.  “OH, SO IF I’M SUDDENLY UPSET ABOUT SOMETHING, IT’S _YOUR_ FAULT?”

He shrugged.  ** *well, normally… yeah. **

“SANS!! THAT ISN’T TRUE!!!”

Wasn’t it? 

Papyrus’s arms slowly uncrossed, as he considered that, then smirked down at Sans.  “WELL, PERHAPS NORMALLY. BUT ABOUT THE LITTLE THINGS. I CAN’T REALLY THINK OF A TIME YOU MADE ME UPSET ABOUT A BIG THING."  His brother glanced to the side.  "NOT COMPARATIVELY, ANYWAY.”

** *heh… that’s good to hear. **

They got into the elevator. The ride was too short. All three of them were dragging their feet as they stepped out. 

Taking himself out of the equation, he knew exactly what was bothering his brother, and he couldn’t help. So he weighed his options, and did what he was best at, next to making puns and avoiding work; he changed the subject.  ** *so, i was thinking, after this little venture of yours is… **

“OURS.”

** *what? **

“IT’S NOT JUST MY ADVENTURE, OR FRISK’S. IT’S YOURS, TOO.”

He shrugged. ** *… kay… ours then. i was thinking we could spruce the house up a bit… do a little work on it… fix that ol’ couch maybe… i don’t know. i like the couch… **

Papyrus shot him a sad look, like he was worried about _Sans_ or something.

Sans's fists tightened in the pockets of his hoodie as he studddied the ground in front of his shuffling feet. This wasn't usually a solo act. He worked so much better playing off of Papyrus's responces. **_ *c’mon, papyrus… say that we can’t get a new couch, ‘cause i’d never get off one that was more comfy, or something… _ **

He realized he’d mumbled it out loud when his brother glanced back at him.  “HMMM?”

He just sighed.  ** *nothin’. **

Frisk’s whole demeanor had changed, and it was affecting both of them. It felt as though the air around them was getting heavier. As they climbed the steps, and the MTT resort came into view, yet another wave of familiarity rushed over him. Friendly times, laughs shared, chances of impending doom… he was sure he’d somehow experienced that much before. 

Yeah… if there was a confession happening, it was gonna be here. 

“So… I was thinking we could maybe get some food or something? Sans… this is one of your shortcuts, right?”

Oh boy. This was really it then. He couldn’t shake the feeling of repetition. It didn’t seem like Papyrus fit… but from the way his brother’s smile was starting to waver, it didn’t really matter. Sans used a shortcut, getting them a table.

Frisk was quiet for a while longer, refusing to look at either of them. “So… this is where Sans usually tells me about finding a friend that likes to trade jokes with him. I… I know the story really well.”

Papyrus exchanged a look with him, still uncharacteristically quiet. Yeah… if Sans’d been here telling stories to the kid, then his brother had been alive and well. He knew that much for certain.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, and then Frisk started again. “But now it’s my turn. Not to tell that story, even though I _could_ tell it to you, word for word. Because… I… I don’t even know how many times I’ve reset.”

Since the kid wasn’t looking at them anyway, he kept an eye socket on his brother, who was already struggling.

“I… didn’t know what was going on the first time. I was attacked, and I fought back, but… some monsters were so nice… I realized that they didn’t want to hurt me. So, I reset. And I tried to make friends with everyone. And it was hard, and I died, so many times, but it was worth it, because… you were all the best friends I ever had. You were so cool, and Sans was so funny, and Mom was so loving, and Asgore was so kind, and Undyne was so passionate, and Alphys was wonderful, and Mettaton was Mettaton, and Asriel was so sad, and you were all s-so nice!”

Tears were streaking down the kid’s cheeks now. Sans ignored the numb feeling in his ribcage as Papyrus closed his eyes in pain, and leaned on the table as if he had to just to support himself.  “HUMAN…”

The kid pressed forward, through choking sobs. “And I… I broke the barrier.”

He supposed on some level he wasn’t surprised to hear that. But shock or no, it still cut like… like a knife, heh. Just stand there and keep smiling.

“And everything was happy, and good, and we moved on with our lives… all except me. I couldn’t stop thinking about how much fun it had been to meet all of you. Did you ever wish you could go back, and relieve the best day of your life? That’s all it was. I was just gonna go back once… that was all. And then, everyone could go back to being happy. And it worked. And so I thought… why not again? And again. And again…”

Papyrus let his shoulders slump, like the weight was just too much.  "YOU SAVED EVERYONE... YOU KNEW HOW TO BE GOOD ALL ALONG..."  Sans pulled his hand out of his pocket and laid in on top of the closest red glove. Papyrus opened his sockets to stare at but really seem to see it. “WHAT HAPPENED?”

“W-when?”

“WHY DID YOU DO IT? DID YOU GET ANGRY AT US?”

“No!” The kid’s head shook violently, new tears forming. “Never. I… I…” a shuddering breath. “I just wanted to see what would happen.”

Papyrus looked up, staring at their little buddy in disbelief.  “WHAT?”

“I was curious, Papyrus. Nobody remembered the resets… not really. So… after enough times… it didn’t seem like it would do any harm. I mean, I didn’t even really know some of the monsters, and I… I didn’t think I’d ever…” a hard swallow, “… Sans tried to warn me. Over, and over, about L.O.V.E., and how gaining it would make it easier to kill, and I just started drowning him out, because it didn’t affect me anymore. I told myself I wasn’t _really_ hurting anyone. Because I could reset, and everything was fine.”

“BUT YOU WERE HURTING YOURSELF.”

The kid struggled to look up at Papyrus like it was some sort of punishment. Maybe it was, considering the kindness still overflowing from his brother’s eyes. “Yeah. And one day, wondering what would happen if I… killed you, didn’t seem so crazy, anymore. So I decided just to fight you. Just one hit, to see if you could really forgive me for being so rotten. Because even when it got easy, I felt terrible. And… you didn’t want to fight me, even then.” 

Sans knew his own sockets had gone dark, but he was struggling to keep the past behind them. Papyrus was here, now. That was all that mattered, right?

“I might have reset right then. I was going to. I mean, it had been so long since I cried. I felt miserable. I wanted someone to tell me how terrible I was. So I went to Sans’s station, but… you weren’t there anymore. For the first time. You were just, gone. I looked for you everywhere. Undyne found me first, and she certainly had something to say about it. It was the hardest she ever tried to kill me, and she did, too. Several times.

“I finally found you, and, I thought for sure you were gonna kill me. I mean, I’d tried so hard to get a reaction out of you, and you barely ever said anything different. But… in the end, you just called me a dirty brother killer, and left. So I… I started experimenting to see if anything else would make people say different things. I wondered how to get anyone to explain things to me. And then, one day, I pushed too hard.”

He clenched his fists tighter to stop the tremor that ran through them. How many times had Papyrus been _killed_ just so the brat could watch Sans react?

His brother sounded utterly confused.  “HOW COULD YOU HAVE PUSHED ANY HARDER?”

Frisk looked him in the eye. “I, killed, everyone that would fight me. I wasn’t expecting Sans to do anything more than he ever did, but… he fought me, too. And it was hard. And I died a lot of times. But… my determination won out. I learned your moves. I knew what you were going to do before you did. And you wore yourself out, eventually. And you…”

Papyrus leaned harder into the table, head hanging, arms shaking, voice pained with a certain edge of repetition that didn't make a whole lot of sense.  "FELL ASLEEP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BATTLE."

The kid nodded, staring at them. This wasn't about curiosity anymore. It was self-loathing. Frisk still wanted them to say exactly what the little murderer deserved to hear. "He was just standing there. It wasn't my turn. It was hard to move. It would have been so much easier to just reset. But I didn't ever want to do that again. So... I cheated and tried again. You woke up and dodged, but... Chara stepped in."

A tear splattered on his hand, jumping him. He turned to face his brother, ignoring the kid for the moment. ** *hey, it’s alright. i’m right here, okay? **

But Papyrus wasn’t done with the human yet.  “H-HOW MANY TIMES?”

“What do you mean? I told you, I forgot how many times I reset…”

“NO. HOW MANY TIMES DID YOU GO BACK, AND KILL EVERYONE?”

“I… I don’t know. I felt so bad about what I did to Sans, I reset right away. But…”

** *you couldn’t stop wondering. **

“And then… I found out what too far was really was. Too far to turn back, anyway. Even after all the warnings. In the end, Chara took control. And well, you know the rest, for the most part.”

Papyrus stopped trembling. After a minute, he stopped leaning on the table enough to put his other hand on top of the one squeezing his glove, making a "handwhich", heh. yeah… just keep smiling.

Paps took his hand away, nodding, and wiping away his tears, in a very nonchalant, cool manner.  “I SEE. WELL, THAT… CHANGES A FEW THINGS, BUT I’M GLAD YOU TOLD US, FRISK.”

“Actually, I was wrong. I forgot something super important.”

Papyrus didn’t even flinch.  “YES?”

“I’m never going to be able to tell you guys how sorry I am.”

Papyrus's smile was bright enough to light up the whole room. “WELL, THAT’S A SILLY THING TO SAY, BECAUSE YOU JUST DID!!!”

Frisk stared at his brother in disbelief. “Papyrus… I just told you all the horrible things I did here…”

“YES, YOU’VE EXPLAINED YOURSELF. BUT YOU MUST CARE ABOUT US AT LEAST A LITTLE, OR YOU WOULD NOT HAVE BOTHERED TO TRY TO UNDO YOUR MISTAKES. SO… SANS, WILL FRISK BE SAFE HERE IF I TALK TO YOU OUTSIDE FOR A SECOND?”

** *huh? oh, yeah. no one’ll pick a fight in here. **

“FRISK, STAY HERE, ALRIGHT?”

“Sure Papyrus.” The kid was still sniffling, and getting a case of the hiccups. “I need a minute anyway.”

Sans started to lead his brother towards the back of the building, and shouldn’t have had a second thought, but despite everything the kid had done, they were all here, and alive, and that had to count for something, if not in the long run, then for right now, at least. He turned.  ** *hey, kid. **

Frisk looked downright scared of what he was going to say, instead of curious. What irony.  ** *if you’re hungry, go ahead and grab something to eat. i’ve got a tab here.  ** Huh. It was easier to say than he’d have thought.

He led Papyrus to the back wall, and teleported them back to the side of the MTT resort.  ** *you know, you’re taking all this really wel… **

Two long arms snatched him up mid statement.  ** *ah. there it is… it’s okay, buddy. **

Papyrus whimpered and hugged him closer, like a teddy bear… if that teddy bear had ribs that felt like they might pop. Not that he was actually worried about Paps hurting him in any way. 

He did manage to turn around mid-air, though, because it was kind of hard to hug back from the position he was in. Yikes… was that another pun? Just in his head? Now? What was wrong with him? Oh yeah… the kid had just spelled out exactly what he hadn't wanted to hear, that’s what was wrong. He didn’t bother with words, just hugged his brother tightly as Papyrus started to hyperventilate. 

“IT WAS A WASTE OF TIME. ALL OF IT. SANS, I DON’T KNOW HOW TO FIX THIS! FRISK ALREADY KNEW HOW TO BE GOOD, AND I DIDN’T TEACH THEM ANYTHING, AND I, I, I…”

***shhhh… papyrus, it wasn’t for nothing. look at everything you did! that’s gotta count for something. even the stuff you don’t remember, you always did great, every, single time, and the kid remembered that.**

Papyrus hugged him a little closer, then set him back on his feet, and tried to straighten his hoodie in an absentminded sort of way. 

His judgment… his pathetic attempt to stop the kid from causing the timeline to just stop… had he inadvertently caused it? Stupid. He’d let things slip to test theories, no doubt. Had he treated it like an experiment, too? Over, and over… the kid was going to reset until he vanished… Papyrus… how many times had he lost Paps?

“SANS!”

Papyrus was shaking him by the shoulders.  “I SAID SNAP OUT OF IT! PLEASE! I NEED YOU, BROTHER… I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO.”

He blinked. The plea was imposible to ignore, but...  ** *sorry, bro. i… um… i got nothin’. **

“SANS…”

** *no, i mean it. i don’t know what to do. but that’s okay, ‘cause i don’t have to. i’m sorry, papyrus, but it’s still you. i’ll help ya any way i can, but… you’re doin’ awesome. **

“YOU’RE JUST SAYING THAT!”

** *stop it, right there. do you really believe that? **

The was a pause, but he guessed that the look on his face removed all doubt.  “NO. I GUESS NOT. YOU’RE RIGHT. YOU JUST MIGHT AS WELL BE WRONG, BECAUSE EVERYTHING IS FALLING APART, AND IF I DON’T DO THIS RIGHT… NO. I WILL DO THIS RIGHT. WE’VE BEEN TO THE SURFACE, AND I’D ALMOST GIVEN UP ON THAT DREAM.”

***you had?** Sure, Sans’d given up on it ages ago. But he’d never have thought Paps had, too. 

“WE’RE ALIVE.”

** *yep. **

“FRISK IS SORRY.”

** *yep. **

“WE ARE GOING TO SAVE THE UNDERGROUND!”

** *yep. **

Papyrus suddenly crossed his arms.  “AND WE ARE _NOT_ GETTING A NEW COUCH, BECAUSE YOU’D NEVER GET OFF ONE THAT WAS ANY COMFIER THAN THE ONE WE HAVE!”

Ah! There it was. Perfect timing, too. He'd needed that. ** *heh… okay. **

“UM… IS IT FAR, OR SHOULD WE JUST WALK?”

He shrugged.  ** *eh, it’s just through there, actually. **

“THEN WHY…?”

He shrugged again. Parlor tricks. He couldn’t remember why he’d done it, but if he’d been following the kid, instead of coming along, he’d have wanted to have a talk at some point. Tell ‘em about the door, and his promise. The one he’d broken.

“AND, SANS?”

** *yeah, bro? **

Papyrus put his hand on his shoulder, and smiled gently.  “FRISK WAS UPSET, AND TRYING TO EXPLAIN. I WILL TALK TO THEM LATER ABOUT TRYING TO BLAME YOU. IF YOU DID ANYTHING TO MAKE THEM CURIOUS… THEY SHOULD HAVE JUST ASKED YOU. DO NOT KEEP BLAMING YOURSELF.”

** *...maybe. **

** *hey, paps? **

“YES, BROTHER?”

** *thanks. **


	21. Chapter 21

He shot his brother a frustrated look as they walked through the door, and took a left. The ‘shortcut’ from before had saved maybe, twenty steps or so? Sans just shrugged. His eyes didn’t have their usual glee that was reserved for moments like this, but they weren’t wallowing in guilt anymore, either… very much unlike the human.

Frisk was sitting under the table, crying into their knees. 

Papyrus stooped down, and pulled the child into a hug, because whether they wanted it or not, it was what they needed.  “FRISK…” 

“I’m sorry.”

Sans’s voice was calm.  ** *don’t say that. **

They both turned to look at him, the human wiping at tears that wouldn’t stop. 

His brother shrugged.  ** *it doesn't really matter what you say. if you're really sorry, it won't happen again. right? **

Frisk gave a heartbroken sigh. "So that's why you didn't just kill me on the spot. You figured it out."

“FIGURED WHAT OUT?”

“I _can’t_ reset anymore. I gave it to you, Papyrus.”

** *kid…  ** Sans sounded hurt.  ** *that has nothin’ to do with it. i’m not just gonna end ya for something you did in… **

****

As his brother trailed off, Frisk sniffed, trying to wipe their nose. Papyrus looked around for a napkin or something, and Sans pulled a tissue from his pocket and handed it to him.

****

He frowned at it, but it didn’t look used, and, miraculously, it wasn’t covered in any sort of pocket residue. If he didn’t know better he’d think it was because he’d given Sans the clean hoodie just yesterday, but, unfortunately, he _did_ know better. The strangest things managed to end up in Sans’s pockets, even after they’d been cleaned. 

****

Deciding it was clean, he used it to first wipe the child’s tears, then under their nose.  “BLOW.”

****

How much mucus could come out of such a tiny human? He grimaced and started to hand the tissue back to his brother without thinking. He jerked it back at the last second, and handed over the child, instead.  “HERE. I AM GOING TO GO DISPOSE OF THIS PROPERLY.”

****

There had to be a trashcan around there somewhere.

****

He glanced back. Frisk was standing beside Sans, no longer sobbing uncontrollably, but still wiping new tears from their eyes. 

****

Sans stood there for a second, then took half a step forward to wrap one arm around the child’s shoulders.

****

Frisk immediately clung to him, burying their face in the shoulder of his hoodie. Sans hesitated, then patted the child’s back. 

****

Papyrus smiled to himself, and resumed his quest to find the trashcan. He was a little irritated to discover that there was a trashcan rental fee, but it was well worth it to not have to carry the tissue around, or know that it was sitting inside of his brother’s pocket.

****

He came back, finding Sans talking quietly, his hand on Frisk’s shoulder. The human was still emotional, but under control now.  “FEELING BETTER, FRISK?”

****

The child nodded, despite the fact that with each word, they looked like they might burst into uncontrollable sobs. “Yeah. I just… I guess I should have known that you guys would even forgive me for, _that._ I’ll just have to live with that fact that I had the power to save you all, and I used it to say mean things, and, you know… kill you, instead, and you just, forgave me, like it was nothing.”

****

“WE’LL HAVE NO MORE OF THAT. YOU MIGHT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO CHANGE THE TIMELINES, BUT YOU CANNOT CHANGE YOUR OWN PAST, FRISK. SO LET’S JUST LEAVE IT WHERE IT IS, OKAY? I DON’T REMEMBER BEING YOUR FRIEND BEFORE, BUT I DO REMEMBER BEING YOUR FRIEND NOW, AND YOU ARE A MUCH NICER PERSON.”

****

“Thanks, Papyrus. I… I know you can still fix it.”

****

He certainly hadn’t been so sure, but when Sans winked at him, he knew he had to rise to the occasion, if only to reassure them both.  “BUT OF COURSE!!! WORRY NOT, HUMAN. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, SHALL ENDEAVOR TO RIGHT ALL WRONGS, AND HEAL ALL HURTS IN THE UNDERGROUND. I… DON’T KNOW IF WE’LL BE ABLE TO BREAK THE BARRIER AND GET YOU BACK WHERE YOU CAME FROM, JUST YET… BUT WE’LL FIND A WAY. SOMEDAY.”

****

“It doesn’t matter. I know Mom will take me back, and I know I can be happy here. I’m just sorry that I ruined it for all of you.”

****

“WELL… IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN NICE TO BE ON THE SURFACE WITH EVERYONE, BUT, AS LONG AS I AM WITH MY FRIENDS, THAT IS MORE THAN ENOUGH FOR ME. WE SHALL JUST HAVE TO TEACH ALL THE MONSTERS IN THE UNDERGROUND THIS IMPORTANT TRUTH.”

****

Sans gave him a proud smile, and, even though he’d seen versions of it a million times over, it still somehow managed to warm his soul.

****

“TOGETHER?” He held his hand out.

****

Sans put his on top.  ** *together. **

****

Frisk gave a little laugh that was one part broken, and three parts relieved, and ten parts happy. “Together… that sounds really, really good.”

****

“THEN THE TOGETHERS HAVE IT!!! WE SHALL PRESS ONWARD!!! METTATON HAS SOMETHING ELSE PLANNED, AND WE’LL NEED TO BE EXTRA AMAZING THIS TIME. I WONDER IF HE’S READY FOR US?”

****

 

****

~-~ ~-~ ~-~ ~-~ ~-~

****

 

****

LAB

****

 

****

~-~ ~-~ ~-~ ~-~ ~-~

****

Alphys paced back and forth. Was it hot in here? It was most definitely hot in here. Even for Hotland… 

****

She fiddled with her glasses, then wrung her hands as she checked the cameras again. They’d been out of sight for quite some time now, and… there! They were talking to… the guy who sold the Glamburgers? He didn’t even look like he wanted to talk.

****

It seemed the human was talking to every single monster in the Underground, except for…

****

_“OH ALPHYS, DARLING! I JUST THOUGHT I’D POP IN AND MAKE SURE THAT EVERYTHING WAS IN ORDER FOR THE BIG FINALE?”_

****

She turned to glare at Mettaton, who was too busy looking into a mirror to notice.  _“HOW LONG DID YOU SAY MY BATTERY PACK WOULD LAST? OH, I AM SO EXCITED!”_

****

“M-mettaton! Wh-what have you been d-doing?! We had an agreement! Y-you’re supposed to b-be…”

****

_“IS IT REALLY READY? THE DESIGN WE DECIDED ON?”_

****

“Y-yes. You’re all set. B-but are you going t-to stick to the plan th-this time?”

****

_“HAVE YOU SEEN THE RATINGS? THE WHOLE UNDERGROUND IS ENAMORED BY THAT LITTLE HUMAN. AND THE SKELETON? HE REALLY MAKES A GOOD POINT. WHY SHOULD I GO TO THE SURFACE WHEN EVERYONE LOVES AND ADORES ME DOWN HERE? WHAT WOULD THEY DO WITHOUT ME? IT WAS PREPOSTEROUS TO EVER THINK OF LEAVING IN THE FIRST PLACE.”_

****

“M-Mettaton! You’re n-not listening! W-what happened t-to the plan?”

****

_“IT’S GOING TO BE FABULOUS, DARLING. FAR BETTER THAN OUR ORIGINAL PLAN. THAT WASN’T WORKING OUT ANYWAY.”_

****

Mettaton continued to drone on about his big debut, never noticing how his words had hit her in the gut. He was right. The plan was stupid from the start. Why would the human ever have listened to her help? Watching them on the camera when she called or posted… sometimes they just looked… irritated, or even annoyed.

****

She swallowed hard. It served her right for trying to play the hero. Instead of showing the human that she was worth listening too, she’d been so worthless, the child preferred the company of the robot that was out to destroy them.

****

What was the point? She should have known it would all end in failure. Dr. Alphys, able to fix her mistakes? Ha! That would almost be funny, if she didn’t know the awful truth. 

****

_“IS EVERYTHING ALL SET?”_

****

She was good at not crying in front of people. Swallow the pain. Bury it. Push it down. “Y-yeah. You’re all s-set.” He didn’t notice the tremor in her voice. Why should he? It wasn’t all that different from her usual stutter. No. Not now. Later, when she was alone. She’d let herself cry then…

****

Despite her resolve, tears were starting to well in her eyes. She was grateful that Mettaton’s back was to her. “Sh-shouldn’t have any p-problems out there.”

****

_“THANKS, DARLING. BE SURE TO GRAB A GREAT SEAT FOR THE SHOW. IT’S GOING TO BE FABULOUS!”_

****

“Yeah, you p-pretty much said that…” but he was already wheeling out the door again, leaving her alone in the darkened, humming room. She could cry, now. It wasn’t like she’d get any visitors. But for some reason, the tears wouldn’t come. The pain was more of a dull ache, now.

****

She paced the room, trying to get a grip on her emotions, but she just couldn’t. It felt like they were in control of her, and why would she be able to do that right anyway? 

****

She wrung her hands together, and pressed them to her nose. Trying to play hero to the human was really just a diversion, anyway. Her real troubles were beneath her feet. She glanced back over at the letters again, but they left her feeling more numb than ever.

****

This was it. The end of her rope. She was going back down there, and she was going to give it her all one last time. And if it took forever, or if she died trying…

****

Well, who would even care anyway?

****

She swallowed that bitter thought with the rest, and turned to go down the elevator. She considered leaving a note, but there really wasn’t a point. If she failed again, maybe it would be better for the secret to stay where it was. 

****

A single tear ran down her cheek, and it felt kind of nice, actually, to care about something. Because sometimes when she cried, she felt detached. Like she was just going through the motions. One more thing that was wrong with her. 

****

No. 

****

No more tears. She didn’t deserve to cry. Not after what she’d done. She stomped her feelings down, and stepped into the elevator, whispering reminders to herself of how worthless she was.

****

 

****


	22. Chapter 22

Frisk was still explaining to Sans why it was weird that none of the monsters were trying to stop them, but he didn’t think it was all that strange. Why would Mettaton send monsters after them to kill them now? They were all getting along so well.

He turned to study them both, smiling once he’d reassured himself that they were okay. Sans was back to his ‘not a care in the world’ grin, but… if anything, he seemed to trust the human more than he did _before_ their troubling tale. Which… didn’t make a whole lot of sense, but he supposed it must have in Sans logic.

And as for Frisk… the child was practically skipping now that the weight of the confession was off their shoulders. He understood that, too. It wasn’t that Frisk wasn’t sorry anymore, but now that they were free to move on, he felt lighter as well. He patted the child’s head. 

“It should be this way.”

They followed quietly, but when the human hesitated in front of the door, he smiled, and stooped down.  “FRISK? I JUST WANTED TO TELL YOU THAT, NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENED IN THE PAST, I AM STILL VERY PROUD OF YOU FOR CHOOSING TO DO THE RIGHT THING THIS TIME.”

“Even though it was my fault in the first place?”

“WE’VE BEEN OVER THIS; WHAT YOU DO NOW IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN WHAT YOU’VE DONE.”

Two little arms wrapped around his neck, and he let out a soft,  “NYEH HEH HEH!” as he returned the embrace. 

Frisk whispered, “Together.” before pulling back, and walking through the door, filled with Determination. He and his brother quickly followed, but the robot standing there waiting for him didn’t look like he had any plans to try to lock them out anyway.

_ “WELCOME BACK, BEAUTIES! WE’VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU!” _

He stepped forward, clearing his throat.  “THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE, MATTATON, BUT I REALLY MUST PROTEST ON BEHALF OF MY HUMAN FRIEND. YOU SEE, FRISK DOES NOT WISH TO FIGHT YOU…”

_ “OH, I CONCUR, DARLING. A NORMAL FIGHT WOULDN’T DO AT ALL. WHAT WE NEED TO HAVE HERE, IS THE VERY FIRST EVER METTATON MOVES SPECIAL GUEST STAR EDITION!” _

“WOWIE! DOES THAT MEAN THAT YOU’RE GOING TO BE FRIENDS WITH FRISK?”

_ “WHO COULD HELP BUT BE FRIENDS WITH THIS LITTLE DARLING? WHAT DO YOU SAY, HUMAN? BYGONES, BE BYGONES?” _

Frisk nodded excitedly. 

_ “WELL, IN THAT CASE, COULD YOU HELP ME WITH THE SPECIAL REVEAL?” _

Mettaton turned, revealing a large switch on his back.  _“GIVE IT A FLIP, WOULD YOU, BEAUTIFUL?”_

Frisk ran up and pulled the switch, causing a stunning transformation.  _ “Ohhhhhhh Yesssss!”_

“WOWIE!”

It was kind of hard to see exactly what happened, but when the flashing lights stopped spinning around the room to focus on Mettaton, he had a face, a head that was separate from his torso, and, perhaps most notably, legs.

As Mettaton addressed the crowd, Papyrus leaned down to whisper his question to Sans.  “HOW DID HE EVEN…?”

His brother just shrugged lazily.  ** *just go with it, buddy. **

_ “Well now that I’m even more fabulous than before, as if that were even possible, what would you say to replacing the scheduled fight with a pose-off, darling?” _

“That sounds awesome, Mettaton!”

“INDEED! HOW SHOULD WE BEGIN?”

_“How else? By posing like you mean it!!! Like THIS!”_ Mettaton put one hand to his face, flipped his other off to the side, and swung his hips in the opposite direction.

“Pretty good, Mettaton, but you can’t beat the classics. Show him how it’s done, Papyrus!”

“GLADLY, FRISK!” He put one hand to his hip and the other to his chest in what he hoped would catch on as his signature pose.

_ “Hmmm. Not bad. Not bad at all. How about this then? What if we were to make things more interesting? Let’s break into teams, and make it a contest? I could beat all of you, of course, but to make it more fair, I will allow one of you to be on my team. What do you say darlings?”_

Sans was leaning against the wall and paying just enough attention to realize that he’d been dragged into the show.  ** *wait… **

That sounded like a fun idea! But it immediately posed a problem. Two on each team meant that he’d have to choose between Sans and Frisk. He was here to help the human, but… Sans was his brother! They were almost always a team!

_ “So who’s the lucky one? Tick tock, darlings!” _

“UM… I… I TOLD FRISK THAT I WOULD HELP THEM…” he turned to give his brother an apologetic look.  “I’M SORRY, SANS…” 

***naw, it’s cool, bro. looks like i’m the third _"wheel"_.** He shuffled over to Mettaton, still grinning away at his own joke, but otherwise nonchalant. He’d make it up to his brother later. Deep inside, he had to be a little disappointed that he wasn’t on the team with their human friend and his super cool brother, even if he was hiding it well on the outside.

_ “Lucky you, Darling! Hmmm don’t I know you from somewhere?” _

“OH NO.” But before he could warn Mettaton, the robot offered his hand. Sans’s eyes twinkled as he shook it, deflating the whoopee cushion live on television. 

He pressed his glove to his face, shaking his head in embarrassment.  “SANS, REALLY? IS NO ONE SAFE?”

His brother just winked at him, but proceeded to answer Mettaton.  ** *yep. i was the bush, remember? **

_ “Well, yes… but I could have sworn I know you from somewhere else…” _

“SANS HAS A COMEDY ACT AT THE MTT RESORT!!!”

The look on Mettaton’s face was unreadable. “ _ Ah yes! That’s it. Let’s just pose today, shall we, Darling?” _

Sans shrugged. 

_ “Alright. Good luck all!”  _ With that Mettaton struck another pose, throwing one leg into the air. _“Alright to all my fans out there, you’ll be the ones judging this, Darlings!”_

Papyrus turned to encourage Frisk to do their best, only to find Frisk already posing up a storm. They obviously had experience in this sort of thing, from the way they were strutting the stage, and blowing kisses at the camera.

The music was certainly catchy enough. He tried out a few new poses. None of them felt quite as perfect as his favorite.

Mettaton wasn’t having any trouble keeping up with them, but he did seem to be having a little trouble with his partner. _“Um, Darling… it’s time to pose, now!”_

** *i am. **

Oh dear. He winced, shooting a glance to the other side of the little room. Sure enough, Mettaton was contorting his more agile robot body into one new pose after the other, and Sans was just standing there, with his hands in his pockets.

He whispered across the stage, “UM… GOOD START, BROTHER… BUT… MAYBE TRY A FEW OTHER POSES?”

** *ok. **

Naturally, he didn’t move.

Mettaton frowned in suspicion.  _“Are you cheating to give them a chance to win? It won’t be enough, Darling!”_

“NO, NO… SANS ISN’T CHEATING… HE’S JUST… BEING… SANS.”  He clasped his hands over his head and kicked one foot out to the side. “YOU HAVE TO MOVE TO MAKE A NEW POSE, BROTHER.”

** *ok. **

Sans shuffled slightly, so that he was standing sideways in the exact same pose. Proud of himself for being so difficult, no doubt.

Oh well. Mettaton was surely able to make do, even if those leg poses _did_ seem to be getting _slightly_ out of hand.

Frisk twirled beside him, showing off another great pose. 

_“Essay time! Alright, everyone, we’ll all get our own keypads in a second, and will collaborate to work on an essay about the debut of my new form. Keep it fabulous! Don’t hold back!” _

When the keypad with a screen popped up in front of him, his mind was still scrambling to think of something to write. Mettaton was still posing, and Frisk seemed to be thinking carefully. 

Oddly enough, Sans was the only one that didn’t have to think twice about what he was going to say. Frisk laughed, and started typing, too. Papyrus scrambled to catch up.

_ “Times up! Let's see what we have here!!” _

Papyrus frowned a little. What they had… needed some serious editing. But Mettaton seemed thrilled with it. 

***papyrus is the coolest.** "I know, right?”  “WHILE THAT IS TRUE, THIS ESSAY IS SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT METTATON.” “Right. He’s got legs now.” “ _"Oh yesss! Legs, legs, legs, Darlings!”_ "UMMM, OKAAAAY?” “I’m having a super fun time with three of my beast friends. Wish the rest of you were here!” “I THINK METTATON HAS PUT ON SEVERAL NEATO SHOWS TODAY, AND DESERVES CONGRATULATIONS FOR BEFRIENDING THE HUMAN!” ***‘legs’cellent point, bro.** _"Did somebody say, LEGS?”_ “SANS, DON’T YOU DARE!” ***i ‘leg’itimately don’t know what you’re talking about.** “SANS!!!” ***aw, paps, i was just pulling your leg.** “SANS! STOP THAT THIS INSTANT!” ***are you b’leg’ging me to stop?** “SANS, DON’T MAKE ME COME OVER THERE! WE’RE IN THE MIDDLE OF A VERY SERIOUS POSE OFF, ON TELEVISION. CAN WE JUST NOT DO THIS NOW?” ***but, bro, you’re leaving me without a _"leg"_ to stand on! ** “NO MORE PUNS!” _“He can tell all the puns he wants to if they’re about leeeeegs.”_ “BUT THEY’RE NOT EVEN FUNNY!” “I thought they were a little funny.” ***heh, thanks kid, but the robot just ruined it for me. besides…** “DON’T YOU DARE!!!!” ***i know when i’m…** “SANS, I WAS GOING TO MAKE YOU SPAGHETTI!” ***…de’feet’ed.** “NO SPAGHETTI FOR YOU!”

_“Well that’s certainly a keeper! Let me file it away for later… there we go! Now then, let’s get back to posing, Darlings!”_

Papyrus shot his brother a warning look.  “SANS…”

He gave a sigh.  ** *alright, alright.  ** At least he was posing now, even if it was in the most lazy way possible. He was barely moving his arms. 

“COME ON, FRISK. LET’S SHOW THEM HOW IT’S REALLY DONE!” 

The child clapped excitedly as he kicked it up a notch. They’d covered a good deal of the poses he could think of, but so far, they’d all been on the ground. He decided to mix that up a little. Sans glanced over and grinned, stopping his own posing to watch, and, ironically, stepping into a more impressive pose than he’d been doing before anyway. 

None of the poses so far had been on the ceiling! He quickly struck a pose, not really caring that it was his signature one again. It was upside down now!

** *heh… can’t _"top"_ that, buddy. **

He smirked down at his brother, ignoring the pun, for now, and just striking every neat pose that came to mind.

Mettaton kicked it into overdrive, not seeming to care who was winning anymore, which was good, since, technically, he wasn’t sure his brother was being a very good teammate. He decided to join Frisk back on the ground, and walked down the wall, posing as he went.

_“Let’s bring in some props, Darlings! Oh… dear.”_

Frisk looked over, worried. “What is it Mettaton?”

_ “The prop department didn’t get the memo that it would more than just the two of us.” _

“DO WE EVEN NEED PROPS?”

_“Oh yesssss, Darling! Of course. Props add drama. They add character! They let you shine brighter than… hmmm, there’s an idea.”_

“WHAT?”

Mettaton grabbed Sans by the shoulders and scooted him over. _“Here. Use this as a prop. That way we’ll have enough, since a prop doesn’t need a prop.”_

Sans just stood there as tiny little Mettatons brought in an umbrella for Frisk, and a rose for Mettaton, the music speeding up. He crossed his arms, and put his fist to his chin thoughtfully, staring down at his grinning brother. How was one supposed to use their sibling as a prop? 

After a moment’s consideration, he turned Sans to face the camera, and leaned his elbow on his brother’s head, putting on his most thoughtful pose. Sans chuckled amiably, making him realize that he’d just been responsible for a visual pun. Oh well, it was clever and subtle, at least. 

_“Quickly now, Human… what is the coolest pose you know?”_

Frisk didn’t hesitate. One hand flew to their hip, and the other went to their chest. Papyrus felt a tear coming to his eye as he beamed in agreement. 

Coolest poses aside, he noticed that Mettaton was starting to slow down about the same time Frisk did.  “UM, METTATON?”

“You should really take it easy before you run out your new battery.”

_“NONSENSE… I COULD KEEP THIS UP FOREVER…”_ But it was clearly taking it’s toll on him, nonetheless. 

“Slow down, Mettaton… please… you can always debut the SECOND release of your new body.”

The star reluctantly stopped posing. _“I’M NOT TIRED AT ALL, DARLINGS! BUT… SINCE YOU CLEARLY ARE… THAT BRINGS OUR PROGRAM TO A CLOSE. WEREN’T THEY ALMOST AS WONDERFUL AS ME? DON’T FORGET TO VOTE, BEAUTIES!”_ He waved, signaling for the cameras to turn off, before turning around. 

_“YOU’RE RIGHT, BEAUTIFUL. UNFORTUNATELY, I WON”T BE ABLE TO GO ON MUCH LONGER USING THIS FORM. WOULD YOU MIND, DARLING?”_

Frisk flipped the switch again, just as the lights were dimming down, and Mettaton somehow reverted back to his original form. The robot gave a sigh, looking down at himself. 

He frowned.  “METTATON, YOU HAVE NO REASON TO BE SAD. I UNDERSTAND. IT MUST BE LIKE THINKING OF SOMETHING ELSE TO WEAR AFTER MY BATTLE BODY. BUT… YOU’RE STILL YOU.”

_ “THAT’S TRUE.” _

“Sure it is!”

_“WELL, THANK YOU, LOVELIES. I… THE LAST TIME I HAD THIS MUCH FUN I… I… YOU KNOW… THERE’S SOMEONE I SHOULD GO SEE. I OUGHT TO HAVE ENOUGH POWER TO GET TO WATERFALL… BUT… WILL THEY WANT TO SEE ME?”_

Frisk beamed. “Of course they will! I know for a fact that Nastablook watches your show. He’ll be thrilled to see you!”

That seemed to cheer Mettaton up considerably. He waved his thanks to them. _“STAY BEAUTIFUL!”_

Mettaton wheeled away, as both doors opened. They walked on ahead, each of them silent. He supposed they were wondering how to convince the king to let Frisk go, just like he was.

Suddenly, Frisk stopped short, turning to look behind them. “Wait a second… oh no! Oh no, oh no!”

“WHAT IS THE MATTER, FRISK?”

“Alphys! Papyrus, I think I messed up. I hope it’s not too late!”

** *you hope what’s not too late, kiddo? **

“I’ll tell you on the way! Right now, we’ve just got to get back to the lab!”


	23. Chapter 23

Papyrus wasn’t sure _what_ to think as they backtracked to the lab. Frisk explained how Alphys made a deal with Mettaton so that she could help the human advance past each of the ‘obstacles’ something Papyrus had, apparently, gotten in the way of. While he had to admit that it was a strange way of making friends, he still felt terrible that he’d had any part in hurting her feelings, and even worse that she had not known that The Great Papyrus would have happily been her friend, at any time! 

He turned to ask Sans how he could have missed something that seemed… sort of obvious, in retrospect, but his brother’s eyes were pinched with a worry that concerned him.  ** *kid, the other timelines… have you ever ignored her before? **

“Maybe a little? I can’t remember. Some of the details blur together. I’ve never killed her or anything…”

“HUMAN, I THOUGHT WE WERE PAST KEEPING SECRETS?”

Frisk sighed, rubbing their arm, not quite able to meet Sans’s eyes. “It’s um… it’s happened, um… she just sort of… disappeared… and um… no one could find her.”

Sans stopped short, his eyes going black.  ** *crap. **

It was of course heartbreaking that she was lost, but… oh… oh dear… they had to hurry!  “I’M CALLING UNDYNE. SHE MIGHT BE ABLE TO HELP!”

** *bro, it might be better if we just handled this… **

“BUT UNDYNE IS A GOOD FRIEND OF DR. ALPHYS, SANS. SHE INTRODUCED US WHEN I WAS HAVING TROUBLE FIGURING OUT HOW TO MAKE THE PUZZLE THAT ENDED UP BECOMING THE FLOOR PUZZLE. WE WORKED ON IT FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS, BUT, OTHER THAN THAT, I REALLY DON’T KNOW DR. ALPHYS THAT WELL. UNDYNE DOES, THOUGH. SHE’LL BE ABLE TO CHEER HER UP.”

Sans nodded, giving up his protest.  ***ok.**

Now that they were back on the same page, he started to dial again… before hesitating as they raced back through the core.  “SANS… WHY WAS YOUR IDEA TO NOT CALL UNDYNE? NOT BECAUSE I’M WRONG, BUT… IT WASN’T FAIR OF ME TO NOT LISTEN.”

** *forget it, bro. i wasn’t ‘skull’king or anything. **

He made certain there was a warning note to his voice.  “SANS…”

His brother shrugged, looking away.  ** *i just… if she’s feelin’ down… she might not want company right this sec, and if we get half the underground bargin’ in on her… **

“WE WILL CHEER HER UP, AND PROVE TO HER HOW MANY PEOPLE CARE ABOUT HER!”

Sans let out an easy sigh.  ** *you’re right, bro. but… maybe we should keep it down to just us four, kay? **

He punched the last button, because he knew that expression… once again, his brother had been reminded how right he was! He was thinking of all those days when The Great Papyrus dragged him on patrol when he was only telling puns without a twinkle in his eye, because he was all sad and mopey about that sciencey stuff that probably had something to do with all of time ending...

The phone on the other end finally picked up as they made it through the core, and got into the elevator. “Yeah… I saw your show Papyr…”

“SORRY TO INTERRUPT YOU, UNDYNE, BUT WE NEED YOU TO COME CHEER UP DR. ALPHYS WITH US! WE ACCIDENTALLY HURT HER FEELINGS, AND THE HUMAN IS AFRAID SHE IS VERY DEPRESSED RIGHT NOW.”

_“WHAT?!?!”_ The phone was slammed down with a loud yell. Thankfully, it sounded more like his friend was going to come help, than a war cry.

They stepped out of the elevator, and found Undyne waiting for them in front of the lab, a little sweaty, but no worse for the wear. He knew better than to assume she knew any of Sans’s shortcuts… Undyne was the fastest monster he knew, and he even knew himself!

“So… I’m here… and… the door’s locked. That’s not normal. She never locks the door.”

While she proceeded to try to pound the door down, Frisk raced off down the path a little, and came back quickly with a glass of water. “Here, Undyne.”

“Oh… thanks, ya little twerp! I forgot all about it. Good thing I wasn’t wearing my armor, huh?” She downed the water in one swig, then turned to pound on the door, but it swung open before she could.

Sans was on the other side.

“How did you…?”

“HE MIGHT EXPLAIN LATER… MAYBE… BUT HE’S SANS, SO I’M NOT SURE OF THAT. THE IMPORTANT THING HERE IS TO FIND DR. ALPHYS QUICKLY!”

Frisk ran straight to the middle of the room, searching the floor for something. “There’s no note… but she’s gotta be through that door.”

Sans’s secrets forgotten, Undyne plowed in through the automatic door. “What are we waiting for? Get in, you guys!”

The four of them crammed into the elevator, but it appeared the upset scientist didn’t want to be followed. The controls to the elevator had been locked.

Sans punched in a string of numbers that got the elevator moving. Papyrus didn’t ask how Sans knew the code. Like he’d told Undyne… Sans might (probably not) explain later, but it wasn’t important right now.

The elevator took forever, and they rode it in silence, different degrees of worry on their faces. He and the human weren’t trying to hide theirs, but Undyne was too ‘tough’ to show weakness, and Sans was very good at hiding what he was feeling from most people. Though… why, he wasn’t sure… his brother had never cared what anybody thought of him. Still, there was a very worried furrow over his brother’s eyes.

Finally, the elevator stopped. And they stepped out into a dark, cold corridor.  ** *we should probably be careful down here, guys. no tellin’ what we’ll find. **

Undyne waved off the warning, bolting ahead. “Oh, please. What do you think Alphys has been doing down here? Mad science or something?”

“UNDYNE! WE SHOULD STICK TOGETHER!” 

** *yeah, you should. listen, bro… you catch up to her, and the three of you stay in a group, okay? **

There was something wrong with that sentence.  “SANS… WHERE EXACTLY DO YOU THINK YOU’RE GOING?”

Sans shrugged.  ***sorry, bro. i gotta check something. i’m countin’ on you two.** He winked his left eye, before just plain vanishing in front of them.

"SANS! WHY DID HE EVEN COME DOWN HERE IF HE WAS JUST GOING TO LEAVE?”

“I don’t know, Papyrus, but we’d better find Undyne before she finds the amalgamates.”

“THE WHAT?”

“Um… I’ll explain later. Come on.”

They raced after Undyne, and only caught up to her because the door was locked. Undyne was more of a, beat the obstacles down with her fists kind of person. 

“There are keys. I know where they are. You two wait here while I go get them.”

“NOT A CHANCE, HUMAN. WE’RE NOT SPLITTING UP ANY MORE THAN WE HAVE ALREADY!”

Undyne glanced down. “Where’d Sans go?”

“… I DON’T KNOW. BUT WE CAN FIND HIM AFTER WE FIND DR. ALPHYS.”

Undyne crossed her arms. “He just _LEFT_!? When you two are so certain that Alphys needs our help for reasons you haven’t really stated yet?”

“I’M SURE HE WENT TO DO SOMETHING USEFUL…”

A snort of a laugh popped out of Undyne, and it was like it had been a cork, holding back laughter. She doubled over, slapping her knee as her laughter intensified. “Papyrus, you and I both know that lazy brother of your’s does just _barely_ enough work to keep his job.”

He could feel a drop of sweat forming on the side of his skull.  “I KNOW THAT IT’S NOT HIS USUAL PASTIME BUT… REALLY… HE CAN BE VERY HELPFUL WHEN HE WANTS TO BE.”

“You would say that. Fine. He ditched us. Whatever. We didn’t need to drag his lazy butt through this maze anyway. Where are those keys… Punk?” She looked around, bewildered.

He clapped his gloves to the side of his head.  “OH NO! FRISK?! WHERE ARE YOU?!?!”

“Who?”

“THE HUMAN!!! WE LOST THE HUMAN! NOW WE HAVE TO FIND THE HUMAN, AND DR. ALPHYS, AND THEN SANS!”

“Well let’s get going then! One of these doors has to open, or else where did the kid go?”

They raced from room to room, finally discovering Frisk, locked in a fight with some… white blob? What _was_ that? Why did it seem so… sad?

The human was down a few hp, but nothing to worry about. He was about to intervene, when the human spared the creature that looked more like creatures, and it sort of, dissipated. The child turned to smile at them. “I’ve got a few of the keys.”

“What was that thing, Punk?”

“Um… some sort of experiment or something I guess. We should get going. I’m worried about Dr. Alphys.”

That took Undyne’s mind off of her questions. “Yeah… that little nerd better not have tried anything stupid.”

They pressed onward. The human tried to lead them to the other keys, but nothing seemed to be where they thought, and they kept looking around like they expected more sad creatures to come and challenge them. Nothing did. 

They finally found the last key, and put it in the right spot, and went back to the door. It was all lit up now, ready to open. 

The three of them charged through it.

 

_._ ~.~.~

 

It took Sans maybe three seconds to find Alphys. Possibly less. But that gave him no satisfaction as he stood there by her desk, watching her sob into her sleeves.

How long had she been feeling like this? How many timelines? Had he noticed? Had he done anything to help? 

He let out a sigh.  ** *alph? **

She squealed, and startled so hard, she fell right out of her chair. He peered at her over the seat as she fought to stop the tears, shocked, frightened, embarrassed. “…W-what… d-d-do… y-you, w-w-w-w-want?” She stayed where she was on the floor, and buried her face again.

The pent-up pain, and self-loathing seeped out into the room. Who was he to judge? Why the heck had he come here ahead of the others? He knew that nothing would cheer her up like seeing the other three come rushing in, worried, because they cared about her more than she could possibly know.

But then there was him. Someone who’d worked right alongside of her. Someone who probably should have said something ages ago. Couldn’t blame the resets for that, right? He felt like he owed it to her, to be here now. Maybe calm her down a little so she wouldn’t be so embarrassed.  ** *what’s goin’ on, huh? **

She started to cry harder. Drat. That had sounded sorta accusatory. He hadn’t meant it that way. Papyrus was so much better at this… where were they, anyway? The lab wasn’t THAT big. Right… locked doors and stuff. He probably had a few more minutes. Might as well make the most of it while he was here. 

** *what i mean is… are you okay? **

“W-why d-does it m-matter?”

What in the underground?  ***what are you talking about? of _course_ it matters.**

He reached into his pocket clicked his phone open to one of his many dimensional boxes, and found some more tissues.  ** *here. **

She took them, wiping her face and eyes before blowing her nose, long and loud. But she’d been just about cried out when he got there. There weren’t a lot of tears left. She rolled up the tissue and threw it at the trash can across the room. It missed, like most of the other wads of tissues, and the empty tissue box.

** *heh. rimshot. **

Her face squinted up in pain, but being in pain over a bad pun was better than being in pain over whatever she’d been crying about. Probably?

She stayed on the floor, unable to look at him. “S-so… you’re here… you must know w-what h-happened.”

** *just guesses. care to go into detail? **

She shook her head, another tear trailing down her face, indicating that she wasn’t ready. 

** *is there, maybe, some other reason you’re hurting?  **

She wiped the tear away with her sleeve, and he started digging for more tissues. “W-why would I b-be…”

** *alphys. **

“Okay f-fine. I’m useless? Alright? Y-you already knew that, b-but I thought, m-maybe s-someday I could… not b-be.”

***you already aren’t, alph. never have been.**

“S-sure I h-have. A-and I am!”

** *alph… look who you’re talkin’ to. **

She shot him a disgusted look, and the stutter vanished for a moment. “Oh, right. Mister, ‘knows more than anyone in the room’. You should have gotten the job. I-it’s okay. I know y-you’re probably m-mad at me still.”

He sat down beside her.  ** *i wasn’t ever sore at ya. if ya remember, i wasn’t exactly shooting for the position. and so what if mettaton’s an actual ghost monster in a fully functioning body instead of a supercomputer with a soul of its own designed to extract human souls? **

She gaped at him like he hadn’t known all along, instead of just not caring all along.  ** *it was still a brilliant work of craftsmanship. and you helped him become a star. i don’t see any reason to hide that. **

“Sans… Asgore th-thought I was br- brilliant.”

** *you are. always have been. ** It was sort of awkward, trying to praise up someone other than Papyrus. It certainly didn’t come as easily, but he meant it all the same. So when she made a self-depreciating scoffing noise in the back of her throat, it stung. 

They’d never been best buds or anything, and… yeah… he’d always held his ideas and opinions close. But he would have liked to think that they’d at least been friends before they… fine… before _he_ … lost touch.  ** *i’m sorry. **

“W-what?!?”

***i got so caught up in that mess we were studying, all the theories, and implications… we kind of stopped talking about anything else, huh?**

She apparently had to think back pretty far to remember what he was talking about. “Y-yeah. I g-guess so.”

There’d been a time when she’d felt completely comfortable talking to him about her human research… to the point where meeting an actual human and seeing what they really looked like was hilarious. 

Her voice was reminiscent. “You’ve a-always been s-so good at l-listening. You’d s-say things like, it w-was just to k-keep from having to w-work, when I a-apologized for blabbering on, and on… but… you really l-listened.”

***well, what you had ta say was interestin’.**

“R-really?”

** *pfft. we both know i woulda fallen asleep if it hadn’t been. **

She covered her mouth, trying to stifle a giggle, but sobered immediately. “W-what d-does it m-matter? I-if you knew the w-worst of it… you w-wouldn’t even be h-here.”

** *since we both know i know about the _"dt"_ not quite working out like anyone hoped, i'm assuming you mean about _"flower power"_ not being a good solution to the sould container problem? **

It had to be what she was talking about, but she still gaped at him anyway. “H-how?”

He shrugged.  ** *had a couple run ins with 'im. i’m just guessin’, but, i take it somethin’ went wrong? **

“S-so wr-wrong. N-nobody was ever s-supposed to know.”

He had no idea what she needed. If he were dealing with Papyrus, he’d just listen, and that seemed to be what she remembered about him.

Problem was, no matter how long you waited, you couldn’t listen to someone who refused to talk. ‘Sides. He didn’t know how much longer they had.  ** *it was an accident. all of it. you were trying ta help. **

“What I d-did was horrible.”

** *... probably doesn't help, but, right now, i'd be willing to bet that i've seen worse. so... if ya wanted to talk...  **

“Y-you d-don't u-underst-stand.”

** *c’mon, alph. talk to me? **


	24. Chapter 24

Frisk warned them to be careful as they barreled into the room, but there wasn’t anything inside. Confused, they went up to a little door off to the side, and pulled the handle.

 Through that door, there was a little office, and in it, were both Dr. Alphys and Sans, sitting on the floor, both of them looking oddly calm. Well, on second thought, it wasn't odd for his brother to be calm. The pair looked up as the three of them nearly collapsed in relief.

 Undyne marched over, probably so that she’d be able to glare at Sans more effectively. “How’d you get here so much faster than us?”

 Alphys blinked up at her. “U-Undyne? W-what are y-you doing here?”

 Papyrus's intimidating friend crossed her arms. “These numbskulls said they hurt your feelings.”

 Frisk spoke up from beside him. “No, Undyne, it was just me.”

 Alphys blushed, and tried to pull her lab coat up around her face. “I-I, th-they… d-didn’t… wh-why would a-any of y-you think that?”

 It was no time to beat around the bush. Instead, he just kept his tone as gentle as possible.  “IT’S FAIRLY OBVIOUS THAT YOU ARE HURTING. AND WE WERE SO DISTRACTED WITH EVERYTHING GOING ON, WE NEGLECTED TO INCLUDE YOU. I’M VERY SORRY.” 

 Frisk walked up to her. “Dr. Alphys… I’m really sorry, too. And I need to tell you something.”

 The little human glanced awkwardly at him and Undyne, so he led his friend away to keep her distracted. Undyne deserved the truth as well, but he had a feeling that she’d react very poorly to it, and that wasn’t something they needed right this second. He hoped she’d forgive him, as he tried to think of something, ANYTHING to keep her from looking over her shoulder at the others. “WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME THAT YOU WEREN’T GOING TO LET ME INTO THE ROYAL GUARD?”

 Well, that certainly did it. Her head whipped back around to face him as he clapped both gloves over his mouth.

 An angry flush rose in her cheeks. “What… have you been talking to the human? That little…”

 “FRISK DIDN’T SAY ANYTHING.” He had her attention now, and he was going to have to follow through. Sans was still on the other side of the room, nodding in agreement with whatever Frisk was saying, and offering a few explanations of his own.

 He sighed. “I OVERHEARD WHAT YOU SAID TO THEM JUST BEFORE THE COOKING LESSON.”

 She looked at him like he’d knocked her a few steps back, even though she stood her ground. “Papyrus… I…”

 He rubbed his arm. “I’M NOT MAD. REALLY… I’M NOT…”

 She reached out and put her hand on his shoulder. “You’re hurt. Papyrus… I’m so sorry. I was just… explaining to the kid why someone as talented as you wasn’t already in the Royal Guard. I really do think you’d be great at it… except…”

 "YOU THINK I’M TOO NICE. I APPRECIATE THAT, UNDYNE, I REALLY DO. BUT IS IT REALLY FAIR TO KEEP ME OUT OF THE ROYAL GUARD BECAUSE I'M OVERQUALIFIED?”

 “Over…”

 “ALSO…”

 “Hold on a sec; you might be right… and I’ll have to give your file a re-evaluation when I get back.”

 “BUT DIDN’T IT BURN IN THE FIRE WITH EVERYTHING ELSE?”

 "Um… we’re here for Alphys right now, right? I’m sorry that I hurt your feelings, but I’m going to have to explain better, later. Do you understand?”

 Why was she treating him like a small child? It didn’t matter. Their friendship was much stronger than this. The conversation could certainly wait. He only hoped that Frisk had gotten past all the bad timeline bits.

 The human was finishing up as they came back over. “So… I really am grateful to you for all the help you’ve given me. And I’d love to watch Mew Mew Kissie Cutie with you sometime.”

 Alphys rubbed the back of her neck. “I almost feel like I sh-should be m-mad at you. B-but how c-could I? If a-anyone knows about m-mistakes… it’s m-me.”

 Sans shook his head with a chuckle. ***you ‘n everyone else on the planet, alph. heh… ‘cept papyrus.**

 Papyrus rolled his eyes at his grinning brother.

 “Is that what all of this is about? You’re beating yourself up over some stupid little mistake? Come on, Alphys, Sans is right for once. You don’t think I was just born able to kick butt like I can, do ya? It took a TON of effort and practice, and I didn’t get here overnight. But it made me who I am today, and I wouldn’t give that up. In fact, I’m PROUD of how much work it took to get me here!”

 “I-it’s not qu-quite the same thing, U-Undyne. M-my mistakes… hurt m-monsters…”

 He frowned. “ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT THE SAD CREATURES WE SAW ON OUR WAY HERE?”

 She dipped her head in shame. “Y-yes.”

 His friend and brother exchanged a glance, but he simply stooped to face her a little better. “I’M SURE YOU DIDN’T MEAN TO. AND YOU OBVIOUSLY FEEL REALLY BAD ABOUT WHATEVER MISTAKE YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT. SANS IS RIGHT. WE ALL MAKE MISTAKES. SOMETIMES, REALLY, REALLY BIG ONES. BUT… YOU HAVE TO KEEP MOVING FORWARD, AND, YOU SHOULDN’T DO THAT ALONE. I AM SORRY THAT WE’VE BEEN TOO BUSY TO NOTICE YOUR PAIN SOONER, BUT KNOW THAT WE WERE TRYING TO HELP YOU, JUST AS MUCH AS ANYBODY, AND WE’RE HERE FOR YOU, NOW.”

 A tear spilled down her cheek, and he wiped it away gently. “Y-yeah… I think I g-get what you guys a-are saying… Th-thank you. A-all of you. I-it’s been a l-long time since I felt l-like a-anyone c-cared about m-me.”

 There was a blur of motion, that knocked him backwards, and he found himself looking up as Undyne picked up the scientist, and squeezed her around the middle, arms pinned to her sides. “Of COURSE people care about ya, nerd! Now… enough with all this mushy crap… apparently, these two boneheads think it’s worth risking everything they hold dear to get this human to Asgore in one piece, and I’ve stood by in the sidelines long enough. So how’s about it? You wanna come with?”

 She set her back down, and as soon as Alphys got back some of the breath that had been squeezed out of her, she smiled at Frisk. “I-if you r-really want me to c-come.”

 Frisk gave a thumbs up. “Absolutely!”

 "INDEED!”

  ***sure, alph.**

 "Then what are we waiting for! Let’s get this show on the road!” Undyne turned, and started sprinting back through the lab.

 He started to run after her, but Sans stopped him with a chuckle. ***this way, bro. i know a shortcut, remember?**

 

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

 

_**That stupid, stupid, idiot! What the heck was he doing? Did he REALLY think anything would change? How could he be so clueless?**_

_****_

  _**Teach the human to be good… really? Really?**_

_**_****_ ** _

_**_****_ ** _

_**If only he knew… if only he wasn’t too THICK to see the CURIOSITY in Frisk’s eyes? This was just something NEW. The little maniac was probably already wondering what would happen if they’d sent someone else back.**_

_**_**_****_ ** _ ** _

_**That thought brought a little smile. That might be worth seeing. Undyne sent back would NEVER be stupid enough to trust the human. And Sans…**_

_**_**_**_****_ ** _ ** _ ** _

_**Wouldn’t that just be fantastic? To watch Frisk work so hard for their something new to be getting DUNKED fresh out of the ruins, promises be hanged…**_

_**_**_**_**_****_ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _

  _**Promises… the ruins… that’s right. To see either of those things, Frisk would have to get to them, first. The price was far too high. Watching Frisk die over and over wouldn’t even be enjoyable after all the other genocide routes that would have to happen first.**_

_**_**_**_**_**_****_ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _

  _**Chara wiped angrily at a tear. Stupid skeleton. Seeing good in someone like that? What would it take? How many times would he have to see his precious brother’s dust before he would finally be convinced that the human was only being nice because it was something NEW? They weren’t bored. That was all. They hadn’t CHANGED. They’d go back to the same old tricks just as soon as they were satisfied that they needed to kill to start seeing different reactions.**_

_**_**_**_**_**_**_****_ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _

  _**Well, it wasn’t going to happen. Let them pretend. Let them lie. Let them think they were changing anything. It was amusing. Watching their pathetic attempts… even that lazy comedian was pretending to buy into the lies. Was it easier than accepting the truth? Was he just thankful for the break? Was he really just willing to play along to ease his brother’s mind? Useless.**_

_**_**_**_**_**_**_**_****_ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _

  _**If there was anyone in the underground that deserved to be killed, it was that comedian. That move… the one where he pretended to ‘spare’ only to kill trick… it had been ingenious. And then, came the realization that the ‘lazy’ skeleton could have stood there forever. Each reset, all he’d have to do would be that one, lazy trick, right at the start of the fight. Why bother to fight at all? Why would he ever give the human a chance to dodge? To try to REASON with them? UGH!**_

_**_**_**_**_**_**_**_**_****_ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _

_**If it were just those skeletons… those stupid, ignorant skeletons, so set on trying to BEFRIEND their murderer, it would be easy to just sit back and watch.**_

_**_**_**_**_**_**_**_**_**_****_ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _

  _**But it wasn’t fair.**_

_**_**_**_**_**_**_**_**_**_**_****_ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _

  _**It wasn’t fair that Mom, and Dad, and Asrial would suffer for their stupidity.**_

_**_**_**_**_**_**_**_**_**_**_**_****_ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _

  _**Let them all play their stupid games for now. They were heading for a new ending all right. And no amount of KINDNESS, or MERCY, or FRIENDSHIP, would be enough to SAVE any of them.**_

_**_**_**_**_**_**_**_**_**_**_**_**_****_ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _

_**It would finally be over.**_

_**_**_**_**_**_**_**_**_**_**_**_**_**_****_ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _

  _**The killing would stop.**_

_**_**_**_**_**_**_**_**_**_**_**_**_**_**_****_ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _

  _**They could all rest in peace.**_

_**_**_**_**_**_**_**_**_**_**_**_**_**_**_****_ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _ ** _


	25. Chapter 25

Undyne stuck close by Alphys’s side, chatting away about anime, letting the doctor mostly just listen and nod enthusiastically, which she seemed to be more comfortable doing. 

The five of them walked along, together, but apart enough that Frisk could explain to him and his brother what usually happened when they got to Asgore. 

He wasn’t surprised to hear that they all usually ended up there anyway, but he was shocked to hear that his little flower friend played such a big role. 

Frisk sounded concerned. “The thing is, I’m not sure that Flowey will even play by the same rules, now that I don’t have the save points.” 

Papyrus’d been thinking long and hard about that, mulling questions over in his mind. He’d formed together several plans that appeared solid at first, but… each held potential dangers.

For instance, he was all for giving the human another chance, no matter what their faults in the past were. It only seemed right that they be given the opportunity to fix those mistakes. However, with the way everything had been going around in circles, Frisk seemed to be having some trouble moving forward. That didn’t mean he didn’t _believe_ in his little human friend, of course… but… having the reset powers had made Frisk behave as if they were all just… puzzles? Toys didn’t even seem to be the right word, because he wouldn't even treat his action figures the way the human had treated them. He still believed Frisk could do the right thing… no matter how… disturbing… they’d been in the past.

He shook his head, still unable to make any sense of it. What exactly had the human _thought_ was going to happen if they killed everyone? He’d never wondered what would happen if he dropped one of his action figures; he’d known it would break. 

He shuddered, wondering if Frisk would have broken their toys to see what the other toys would say about it. He supposed they might have. 

No, he couldn’t understand it, and he didn’t even _want_ to. Wouldn’t a power that let you reset make it so that you could be better each time? Wouldn’t it let you help more people? Like Alphys… if they had to reset again, then they’d know to help Alphys sooner, so that they didn’t hurt her feelings again.

He glanced down, watching his brother take in every word the child was saying. Blaming what they’d done on Sans had been a low blow, and he sincerely hoped the shorter skeleton wasn’t taking it to heart. It was hard to tell with Sans. Most times, his brother just seemed to shrug off responsibility… real or imagined. But there had been times where Sans had apologized for things that weren’t his fault at all… especially while they were growing up.

So it was hard to say WHAT Sans was thinking about the resets. Aside from how to stop them… that was. He could see THAT clearly enough in those eye-sockets. His brother had a point… they could worry about the emotional toll this had taken on everyone _after_ they saved the Underground. 

After all, there was always time.

Frisk's feet started to drag as the child rounded the corner, and stopped short, looking everywhere but at Sans.

Papyrus didn’t have to step into the room to know why. It was the golden tiled room he’d found torn up just before the reset… it felt like forever ago.

Instead of avoiding Sans, he blocked out everything _except_ his brother, trying not to think of the way the room had looked last time. It was just a long, peaceful, hallway… there were no bone attacks splitting the floor. There wasn’t any pile of clothes heaped over a pile of dust…

Sans looked from the human to him, confused at first. When it dawned on his what was making them feel so sick, he actually looked uncomfortable. 

“Sans?” Frisk swallowed, still talking too quietly for Alphys and Undyne to hear. “You can go ahead and judge me now.”

His brother sighed, and shook his head.  ***pretty sure you’ve heard everything i have to say, kiddo. besides…**

**“He fell ASLEEP in the middle of the battle!”**

He tried to focus on what Sans was saying instead of listening to the words that were pounding through his skull, but he wasn’t just remembering them… it was as if Chara had actually just said them again.

“You know, there might still be a chance for you after all. I just remembered that you only THINK you’ve seen the worst this room has to offer. But you really haven’t seen the half of it.”

Images flashed across his vision, too fast to make sense of, at first. As they started to slow, he was able to identify Frisk… still talking to his brother… no… wait…

Sans was doing all of the talking, and Frisk didn’t even seem to be listening. But he couldn’t hear either of them. Not over the sound of the voice in his head.

“Frisk gave you the determination, even though you’re not using it. Smart choice… considering what that stuff DOES to monsters.”

What was going on? What was Chara _doing_ to him?

“Relax. Without Frisk’s Exp or their soul, I can’t do anything. You know, it was their _determination_ that woke me up in the first place. Since you reset what they did, I’m stuck back here, waiting for all _THIS_ to happen again.”

The images grew hazy again, and when he blinked his eyes open, the Sans and Frisk in front of him were exactly where they were supposed to be, and Frisk was doing the talking, but his vision blurred before he could take comfort in it. 

Before he could even start to make sense of anything, he was blinded by a white, flashing light. When it cleared, he realized he was watching Frisk dodge bone attacks, trying desperately to hit his brother with a knife that was most certainly not a toy.

Far from looking concerned, Sans dodged to the side in a lazy manner, focusing all his energy into the attacks.

“It took a lot of tries. That lazy do-nothing was almost _determined_ to stop whatever was happening. But it wasn’t enough. The poor fool didn’t even understand half of what was going on.”

He wasn’t getting more than flashes of images. Some of them seemed to be repeating… maybe they all were… he was certain Sans had looked far more worn down a second ago…

** *what’s with that expression? … did i get ya? **

Sans chuckled to himself as he dodged a particularly infuriated attack. 

“Remember… this was ALL Frisk. No one was forcing them to do anything… even now.”

The images skipped by faster… he kept hearing fragments of the things Sans was saying… he seemed to be trying to talk some sense into the human… right as Frisk ran straight into one attack too many, and suddenly, it all seemed to start over again.

He realized that Frisk had _reset_ the fight.

“Yep. He kept sending them back to that same place… hoping they’d give up. I still don’t know what he thought he’d gain… he clearly hadn’t given up as much as he said he had.”

The images blurred again, and each glimpse he caught only heightened the sense of impending doom. He’d watch Frisk die, however briefly, three times now. 

“That’s not even close to how many times he killed them, but I'm not here for the lazy trashbag. You get the idea…”

He didn’t _want_ to get the idea. He wanted to be free of these horrible images. He wanted to rush forward and save the little human each time he saw an attack connect… even though the look they were giving his brother bordered on murderous., while Sans's eyesockets were giving telling winces.

Everything slowed down… seeming to creep along now… or maybe it was normal time, and it just felt slow after the flurry of memories he’d been watching. 

He’d never seen his brother so utterly spent before. Sweat was rolling down the sides of his skull. The grin on his face was weaker than normal, his breathing was haggared, and his eyes weren’t even trying to smile anymore…

There was no way he could muster another attack… it was obviously taking everything he had to just keep standing there. So _this_ is what Chara had meant. 

He supposed he’d known, all along, but somehow, it had been easier to think of Sans just getting bored with the fighting enough to take a nap, rather than slowing subcoming to total exhaustion, knowing that there was no one out there to save him.

He could almost see the gears still turning in Sans’s head. Just a few seconds rest would give him a few more minutes of energy. If he could just close his eyes and recover a bit of strength… he didn’t look like he could keep them open much longer anyway…

And Sans fell asleep, right in the middle of the battle. 

Frisk struggled to take advantage of it, creeping closer silently, knife raised…

Even though he felt like he owed it to his brother to watch, he didn’t want to see this. He struggled to intervene, or look away, or close his eyes, or… _something…_ but he couldn’t.

At the last possible second, Sans’s eyes popped open, and he dodged to the side, trying to play it like it had been his plan all along to ‘pretend’ to fall asleep… if anyone knew what Sans looked like when he tried that… it was The Great Papyrus. 

But when the knife slashed out a second time, it seemed to startle Frisk even more than Sans… a fact that he almost didn’t even register as his brother fell backwards… trying to chuckle off the weight of his defeat. 

Sans…

His brother stood, and made one last attempt at humor before dragging himself down the hall with strength he shouldn’t have had after a blow like that. Sans wasn’t even able to keep his eyes open. 

** *papyrus, do you want anything? **

He wasn’t sure what was harder… watching what he just had, or hearing the sound of his brother dusting.

He stumbled forward, unsure whether to hold his head, or to put his hands out to catch himself as he started to fall.

And then Sans was there, trying to keep him upright before he had to make that choice.  ** *paps? what’s the matter? papyrus?! **

Frisk was at his other side, helping his brother lower him to the ground. “What happened?”

He tried to answer them, but he didn’t know how… and he felt all… noodley all of a sudden. He could just make out Undyne and Alphys racing towards them, before Sans’s arm blocked them out.

** *easy, buddy… nice, slow breaths, kay? you’ve had a lot on your plate… but it’s gonna be fine. just rest a second. **

He nodded to let Sans know that he understood that he had to just lie here a moment, even though he hated it.

Undyne shouted from somewhere nearby. “What’s wrong with him?”

Sans sounded annoyed, but kept his tone low.  ** *don’t know. just back off, and give him a little space. **

“Oops. Look like I did something wrong. Sorry about that. I only meant to make you watch your brother die… not incapacitate you.”

He flinched, expecting more memories to be flooded into his mind, but Chara only commented.  “Let’s see how easy it is to forgive them NOW.”

He frowned. Did ‘them’ mean just the human, or both Frisk _and_ Sans? And should he even be asking himself something like that? The human had been trying to kill everyone just to see what would happen. He wished his brother had come up with another plan, but time hadn’t been on his side… at all.

He tried not to let himself continue that train of thought, but a shudder ran through him as he thought of that knife slashing out again…

A hand squeezed his shoulder, reassuring him that everything was fine. He opened his eyes, and smiled up at his brother.

Frisk and Alphys were trying to drag Undyne back a few steps, but weren’t making much progress. “Why won’t anyone tell me what the heck is going on!?!?!”

Sans's grin was as reasuring as ever, but was he imagining that same, worried tilt that his sockets had held during the fight? ** *you okay? **

He nodded, but only once, since his head still felt like it was spinning. 

There were a thousand questions in his brother’s eyes, but Sans didn’t ask any of them. Instead, he patted his shoulder, and gave it another squeeze.

He didn’t want to talk about it, or acknowledge that it had happened, but…  “CHARA’S CONNECTED TO ME SOMEHOW… THROUGH THE DETERMINATION.”

Sans blinked, but took the news surprisingly well.  ** *what happened? **

Papyrus winced as he tried to forget again, and finally accepted the fact that watching something like that wasn’t something he’d _ever_ truly be able to forget. Instead, he focused on fighting the urge to demand that Sans shortcut home right then and there. He knew the stubborn skeleton wouldn’t leave, and… truth be told, he needed to have him nearby right now. 

“NOTHING, REALLY… THEY JUST… SHARED SOME OF THEIR MEMORIES WITH ME, and… I… I’M REALLY GLAD THAT YOU’RE HERE, SANS.”

** *… **

***crap. did you…? papyrus… i…**

He sat up, and hugged his brother, partially to stop him from having to say something when there really were no words, and mostly just to feel how solid he was.  “I’LL BE ALRIGHT, BROTHER. I THINK THAT THIS MEANS THAT CHARA IS GETTING REALLY SCARED THAT WE’RE GOING TO SUCCEED. I THINK, MAYBE, DEEP DOWN, THEY _WANT_ TO BELIEVE THAT EVERYONE CAN BE HAPPY.”

Instead of replying, Sans just hugged him a little tighter.

Then something grabbed his scarf from behind and yanked him to his feet, in a surprisingly gentle way. “You feeling better now? What the heck was that, anyway?”

He rubbed his head, embarrassed that the captain of the royal guard had seen him like that.  “I REALLY DON’T KNOW… BUT I DO FEEL MUCH BETTER NOW! LET’S GET FRISK TO THE KING.”


	26. Chapter 26

Sans watched as his bro reassured Undyne that he was fine for the fifth time. From the way Pap’s smile was growing each time, it was actually helping him to keep saying that out loud, so he just stuffed his hands into his pockets, and stood there, glancing around the room.

This place had that same kind of bad feeling that had hit him on the path from Snowdin to Waterfall, just… not the same way. That had been like getting hit in the gut with a sack of bricks. This… was more like a slight case of nausea. Which made sense, considering what the kid had told him. He didn’t even wanna think about how many times he’d stood here, knowing just enough about what was going on to at least acknowledge it head on.

He went back to studying Papyrus carefully, but whatever had happened, he seemed to be heroing through it in a normal, Papyrus manner.

What exactly was Chara trying to do? Convince his brother they were all better off not existing at all? Pfft. Good luck with that. Whatever motivations had been in play, making his brother any more upset about deaths in previous timelines had been a dirty thing to pull. 

It probably should have been amazing that the kindhearted, ever-trusting skeleton wasn’t crumbling under the weight of everything, but Sans wasn’t surprised that Paps could handle it. He’d just never wanted him to have to.

The kid was standing off to the side, looking anxious. Anxious about what… he couldn’t say. There were plenty of things to choose from.

The thing _Sans_ was choosing to worry about was, much as he hated to admit it… Chara had a point. Did it really _matter_ if everyone in the Underground was willing to let bygones be bygones? No matter what had been reset, it had still happened. It only stood to reason that there _would_ be consequences. Sure, it wasn’t up to any of them to pick and choose those consequences, but what if they couldn’t avoid them, either?

Papyrus turned and saw Frisk staring at him. His brother scooped the kid into his arms and whispered something. Frisk smiled, and relaxed. The look Paps gave him over the kid’s head was almost apologetic.

Sans shrugged it away. It wasn’t like he held any special grudge against the kid for that little detail. Everything that had happened before that… maybe. But it was kind of hard to get upset over his own death, when practically everyone else had already been gone. He didn’t see how it even mattered at that point. 

Frisk scrambled down, and tugged on Papyrus’s hand, pulling him down the hall. The rest of them followed by default. 

Despite everything the kid had told him about having to talk down ol’ Fluffybuns and the weed, Frisk seemed to draw confidence from the four monsters.

They walked along together, and the kid’s shoulders drew back as they stepped through the doors, into an anticlimactically empty throne room. 

The kid’s steps got more cautious, until they stopped altogether. 

A familiar voice was yelling at the king, and, while Sans was used to hearing it from the other side of the door, he wasn’t used to that door being open. Heh, for that matter, he didn’t know that the gentle tones could sound so… angry.

“I will not stand here and listen to you defend your actions. Nor will I leave this place without ensuring that the child is safe.”

“Toriel…”

“If you are not going to admit that this was a horrible plan from the start, then do not say anything at all!”

He watched as the kid broke into a delighted smile, and raced on ahead full speed, all worry fading away. 

That stood to reason, he supposed, what with the lady it was impossible to say no to holding the king in check.

Everyone else was right on Frisk’s heals, but he found himself shuffling his feet at a pace that was slow, even for him. 

It was crazy to be apprehensive about meeting her face to face, especially with everything else going on, wasn’t it? He shook his head at his own silliness, and settled for just hanging out in the doorway of the barrier room, leaning against the wall as he watched everyone interact, picking up a few bits and pieces of information, but mostly just keeping an eye out for a certain flower.

Huh, so he’d been swapping puns with the former queen all this time. Who knew? Part of him was surprised at this little tidbit of information, and the rest had a nagging feeling that it was old news. Didn’t really matter, he supposed.

She didn’t really look like he’d pictured her, but the kindness on her face matched her voice well enough. Except for when she was glaring daggers at the king, that was. She was doing less of that, than smiling down at the kid. 

Things calmed down, and everyone seemed to realize at the last second that if the king wasn’t going to hurt Frisk… then the whole reason they’d come here was kinda pointless. As far as the rest of them knew, anyway. After what the kid had told him, he was still looking over his shoulder for a certain flower to make an appearance. 

Asgore took it upon himself to address the issue once everyone had calmed down a second time. “It would seem that everyone is in agreement… and I, for one, would like nothing more than to allow this child to go home. But, as most of you know, it is impossible for even a human to pass the barrier, without absorbing a monster soul.”

Papyrus didn’t seem any more ready to share the new information than him or the kid.

Undyne was the first to speak. “So… what happens now?”

It was an annoying question, because it had been churning through his mind since the very start. The plan was to get the kid to Asgore in one piece. But now what? He wasn’t a fan of the whole, ‘wait for the flower to show up and try to kill everyone’ plan, but there weren’t all that many options. He glanced back again, still listening more intently to the silence in the hallway than the hubbub in the room. 

Then again, who was to say a flower would make a lot of noise? He glanced around, wondering where exactly the souls were stored. He tugged on Papyrus’s scarf to get his attention.  ***hey, do ya think maybe we’d better ask the king where the other souls are, and try to stop anyone else from taking ‘em?**

The room had gone silent again as he finished talking, and the queen glanced over at him. “That voice!”

He gave a little wave.  ** *heya. **

Papyrus ignored his question long enough to ask, “ WAIT… YOU KNOW ASGORE’S CLONE???” 

Before he could answer, or even snicker at his brother's discription, he caught a flash of green in the corner of his eye socket, and something wrapped around him, and Papyrus, and… yeah, the other monsters in the room too. It wasn’t just a physical attack… it felt like something was trying to _absorb_ them.

Too late… heh… probably a good title for the story of his life. And then pain seared through him, and he couldn’t even focus on a pun to follow that thought up…

 

*~*~*~*~*

Frisk’s POV

*~*~*~*~*

 

Talk about Deja Vu… how many times had this happened? Powers or no, it was so familiar it was almost boring. 

Did Flowey know how repetitive he was? He probably didn’t care.

Still, there was a certain feeling of… apprehension. What happened now? Was it possible to do this without dying? Could Papyrus even fix it if it wasn’t?

Why had killing anyone ever started to seem like a good idea? It was time to fix things, but… without determination…

 

*~*~*~*~*~

 

Ow. What was going on? Everything was all fuzzy, and Sans’s head ached even more than the rest of him, but he was mostly fine, because the one thing he was sure of was that Papyrus was close by, and alive. What’d happened… a bunch of other monsters had shown up to put in their two bits in defense of the human. Word of the kid’s good deeds and televised appearances had spread. Sans suspected that some old, residual feelings were rekindled, from good runs. He’d blacked out again… he’d just been trying to tell the kid that this guy had nothing on them… but…

Did it even matter? This… this had happened before already, hadn’t it? They were all stuck in a loop, weren’t they? Nothing they did was ever gonna matter… was it? Even if they got out of this mess, they were just gonna end up right back here, until, one day, everything just stopped.

It probably didn’t matter this time… without determination, the kid’s chances of lasting long enough to try to save them or whatever were bordering on nonexistent. 

He hadn’t been one to give up on anything he thought was important, but something was telling him that _that_ guy had been beaten a  _long_ time ago. 

“SANS?”

Heh, either his bro was even closer than he’d thought, or the stupid weed was messing with his head some more. The horrifying thought of what he could be made to see in this state was nearly crippling.

“SANS!”

Naw… he’d know that voice anywhere.  ** *papyrus? **

“FRISK NEEDS HELP. I HAVE TO… NGYEH.”

 

** *bro? **

 

 

** *paps? **

 

 

** *papyrus?!? **

For one horrible second, he was alone. The despair he’d felt before was crushing him now, because there had been something familiar, and close, and comforting nearby, and it had been jerked violently away from him.

And then he was jerked towards it.  “SANS? ARE YOU OKAY?”

His vision cleared as he was able to get a grip on himself, having full access to his own thoughts once again. For a moment, he thought everything was gone, but then he realized…

“I DON’T KNOW WHERE EVERYTHING WENT, BUT…”

** *it’s all right where it was. the flower… sucked us in, somehow.  ** His hopes were that they hadn’t been absorbed yet, but, hey, Papyrus seemed fine, so if this was absorption, there were worse things.

Papyrus squeezed his shoulder.  “YOU NEED TO STAY HERE, WHILE I GO FIND FRISK, OKAY?”

** *i think i’ll tag along if it’s all the same to you, bro. **

“SANS! I DON’T HAVE TIME FOR THIS! THEY’RE GOING TO FIGHT, AND I HAVE TO PROTECT FRISK! THEY’RE DEFENSELESS!”

** *yeah, i got that. so let’s go help the kid. **

“STAY!” Papyrus stomped his foot, and then started towards the feeling of rising tension.

Sans stuck his hands in his pockets, and followed, shrugging off the fact that his bro was resorting to the orders Doggo used on Greater Dog.

There was a hint of desperation in Papyrus’s voice.  “SANS, PLEASE! I KNEW I SHOULD HAVE LEFT YOU BACK THERE, BUT YOU LOOKED SO SAD I… PLEASE DON’T MAKE ME REGRET IT!”

He kept his voice low, comforting.  ** *papyrus, i know you’re worried about me, but don’t, ok? just for a little while, focus all that worry on frisk, instead. **

“BUT THERE’S GOING TO BE A FIGHT!”

He sighed.  ** *i know. that’s why i gotta come. if things get out of hand, i’ve got a few tricks up my sleeves. might not be fighting fair, but, hey, he started it. **

“BUT…”

** *bro… i know. but we’re not fighting a determined human, and i’ve got a way better advantage than i had in the timeline when… ‘that’ happened. **

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN?”

** *i got you. it’s not the same fight. heh, between the three of us, flowey hasn’t got a chance. **

“BUT…”

Papyrus was still trying to leave him behind, as if a few extra steps would make a difference. Heh, for all he knew, maybe they would. Maybe Paps really could get there and diffuse the whole sorry situation before he could even catch up. 

But the way he saw it, if there was a fight, he could at least buy Papyrus some time. He didn’t know if it would even make a difference, but that attitude hadn’t helped anyone. He had to take a page out of Papyrus’s book… they were all still here, and he knew exactly what was at stake.

He couldn’t afford not to care anymore.


	27. Chapter 27

Papyrus shouldn’t be letting Sans come with him, he knew, but seeing his brother standing there with that… cloud of despair, around his head, muttering that it didn’t matter anyway… what if that happened to Sans all over again if he made him stay behind?

 Sans had been a quiet support this whole time. Maybe that’s what he’d continue to do… after all, if Frisk’s stories were any indication, Sans’d never fought while there was still someone else to do it before…

**  *bro, seriously. stop worrying about me. when ya can only take one hit, one thing you get real good at is not gettin’ hit. **

 “THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAY TO DO THAT IS TO STAY OUT OF FIGHTS.” 

  ***heh… true. but you know me. i can do stuff when i have to.**

 There he went again. Hiding behind that ‘I’m too lazy to move’ defense, when it was obvious that there had been another force at play this whole time. Certainly Sans was lazy by nature, but his older brother clearly hadn’t just ‘let him take care of things because he was so much better at them’. Which, happened to be true. But he’d never had a hint as to what else could be bothering Sans before getting pulled into this whole mess.

 The entire situation was still leaving him feeling nauseous when he let himself think about it.

 But Sans? Every new terrible thing they learned only made his brother look off to the side with that disheartened, ‘i knew it’ expression on his face. In fact, it seemed like nothing had shocked Sans since he’d found Papyrus in his older brother’s hoodie in the kitchen.

 It was so obvious, now, that something had been wearing Sans down from the inside out for a long time. Longer than Frisk had been here, even. Papyrus felt terrible for not really noticing how terribly wrong it was until now, but he was out of time.

 Making things up to his brother would have to wait; they’d found Frisk. None too soon, by the looks of things.

 A second Asgore clone stood, or rather, floated around Frisk in the blackness. The little human had already taken some hits. “You don’t have to do this, Asriel. You remember what almost happened.”

 This, ‘Asriel’ shrugged and shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. As long as you’re still here to play. But enough! It’s time for another ‘Reset’!”

 Asriel had the power to reset now?! From the way he was readying his next attack on the poor human that refused to even fight back, this wasn’t a good development. Papyrus’s hand shot out as he erected a defensive wall of bones in front of Frisk. They absorbed the impact as he gave Sans one last pleading look to stay out of this.

But his brother had a serious, calculating tilt to his eyes. If he hadn’t known better, he’d have thought that Sans had somehow absorbed the determination, the change was that drastic. It had been a LONG time since he’d seen his brother this motivated to do anything, and, with a sinking heart, he knew he had to let Sans make that choice for himself. After all, he believed in him, too.  “TOGETHER?” 

 Sans shot him a grateful smile. ***together.**

 They walked over to stand on either side of Frisk, slightly in front of the formerly defenseless human.

 Asriel was still staring at them. “How are you here?”

 Sans gave a dangerous sounding chuckle. *** heh heh… that’s the least of your worries.**

 Asriel rolled his eyes. “Oh please. Do you REALLY think you still scare me? I know ALL your tricks.”

 Sans winked. ***thanks for the confirmation.**

 Papyrus gave a heavy sigh, shaking his head in disappointment.  “YOU’VE BEEN TRYING TO MANIPULATE THINGS THE WHOLE TIME, HAVEN’T YOU?”

 The floating boss monster’s voice was dripping with sarcasm. “GOLLY, PAPYRUS… YOU CATCH ON FAST.”

 He didn’t like the implications of that.

 “Hey!” Frisk’s fist balled up. “This is between us. We’re…” The human sighed. “We’re the bad guys here.”

 “You still don’t get it? After all this time? After everything you did? I thought you understood, but you’re really just an idiot, aren’t you? It doesn’t matter. What harm does it do? What, do you feel sorry or something? What difference does it make, how many times you kill them? You could have done it more times…. or is that it?” A wicked smile lit the face of the distracted monster. “Did you go back to your save points just to kill them again? That was fun, wasn’t it? We’re more alike than I thought, aren’t we?”

 Even though he knew it was essentially true, it still hurt. So did the implication that his little flower friend had been doing it for even longer than Frisk.

 Asriel finished laughing. “Oh well. You’ll probably get a chance to experiment more on that the next time around. Not that you’ll have the power to reset, but whatever. You can’t defeat me, no matter how many of your pathetic friends you pull to your aid. So just do us all a favor, and die.”

 Papyrus threw up another bone wall, blocking another attack, then another, as they started coming in hot and fast. A little too fast… he wasn’t sure he could keep up with them all…

 “Give up!”

  ***nope.**

 Sans’s magic pulled up walls to fill in the gaps, and for the first time since Flowey had showed up, he was relieved his brother was here. They had this… they could do this… he just had to believe in them.

 The attacks got more complicated, filled with lasers, and explosions that were slicing right through layers of bone defenses.

 Frisk was still standing in the middle, feet firmly planted, blocking what little attacks that made it through with a stick. Asriel might have the determination, but he couldn’t be as determined as all three of them. 

A wave of the stronger attacks plummeted on them, and they barely recovered their ground as a huge attack powered up, pointing at them all, and radiating raw energy. As he struggled to defend, he had a sinking feeling that it wouldn’t matter how many walls they put in front of the human… that thing was going to eat right through whatever stood in its way.

 Just as it was firing, he realized that he was defending on his own. Sans must have decided it was no use to even try. What kind of attitude was that? Why now, when…

 Something else fired up, just in front of them. A large, head shaped attack made of bone. It opened its mouth as Asriel’s attack fired, and white energy leapt out to meet the rainbow-colored beam. The head cannon melted away, but so did the attack.

 He realized his jaw was hanging open as he turned to stare at his brother.

 Sans was standing there, calm as ever.

 Asriel didn’t seem any more impressed than Frisk. “What, showing off for your pals, Smiley Trashbag? You know I can outlast you, right? You can’t stop me this time. Not like this.”

 Sans ignored the taunts, but the lazy way he was standing seemed to be nothing more than a cover. He could feel his brother’s magic gathering for a strong attack, but he was merely getting it ready. ***your call, guys.**

 What was he… oh… he was asking permission to use that attack. They’d been on the defensive the whole time, and it was clear that the three of them were going to get worn out long before the boss monster at this rate. Especially if Sans kept using those power consuming attacks, but… “YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO THIS. YOU CAN BE GOOD. YOU CAN LET EVERYBODY GO.”

 Asriel laughed at him, a cruel sound. “You’re right. I could. But that’s not going to happen, so you’re just wasting your breath. In fact, we’re all wasting time here. But I’m allowing it, because it’s amusing to watch your pathetic attempt to pretend you have control. But that determination is mine now, Frisk.”

 Wait… Asriel thought he’d stolen the determination from Frisk? If that was the case, then maybe…”

 The attacks started up again, hard, and fierce, and suddenly directed at all three of them. Sans didn’t bother putting up walls to defend himself, giving Papyrus more than one harrowing fright, but his brother was stepping to the side, easily missing the attacks.

 Before they could get too comfortable with this new method of fighting, Asriel changed it up again, making each attack one of the more powerful ones. Apparently Sans was able to summon up more than one of those cannon attacks at a time.

 He didn’t look like he was tiring, but there was a bead of sweat running down his brother’s skull, and Asriel was fighting back as hard as ever.  “FRISK, SANS… I THINK WE’RE GOING TO HAVE TO CAPTURE HIM, IF WE WANT TO WIN THIS…”

 Asriel laughed. “Ha! You think you stand a chance? That it’s going to matter…”

 It was all Sans had been waiting for. Asriel was forced to take the defensive as one blinding attack after another pelted the boss monster.

 Papyrus frowned at his brother, noticing another bead of sweat. Sans’s exhaustion in the flashback Chara had forced him to watch made even more sense now. Sans was going to wear himself out… No. He wasn’t going to have to. Before Asriel could recover, Papyrus unleashed his fabled blue attack.

 Between them, Frisk stared down at the stick in their hands, then continued to hold it in front of them like a shield. “Stop it, Asriel. We both know you don’t really want to do this. You can feel it all again. All the choices you made. All the good times you had when you weren’t killing everyone. You want to SAVE everyone, too, deep down. It’s all you ever wanted, isn’t it?”

 Something resonated in him at the word SAVE. Acting on instinct, he left the fighting to Sans, and the defending to Frisk, for just a moment. Ah ha! Frisk had been giving him a clue! There were all his friends, just waiting to be saved, along with…

 OH! 

 This was the moment Frisk had been trying to get to! Not the fight with Asgore, or even the fight with Flowey, but this! The moment when he would be able to SAVE. This was how they would set things right. “CHARA, YOU CAN STOP HIDING NOW.” 

 The two other monsters froze, a remainder of one of Sans’s attacks blasting harmlessly through the boss monster.

 Asriel frowned. “But… the human is Chara…”

 “You idiot.”

 Ah… there they were now. Red eyes and all, stepping out of the blackness around them, and going to stand by Asriel, and yet, apart from him.

 The boss monster was suddenly trembling, as if remembering something horrible, even as he tried to smile. “Chara!”

 The child in the green striped shirt ignored him. “So here we are. Did you REALLY think there wouldn’t be CONSEQUENCES, FRISK? That you could just IGNORE what you did? Well… guess again. This is NEW for you, so let me spell out exactly what’s going to happen here. You’re all going to keep fighting. Asriel, the little crybaby, is going to do what he does best, and turn on me, but it won’t matter. Papyrus, your blind faith in these undeserving wretches is going to get you killed first. That’s gonna break your brother, all over again. He’s already half ASLEEP anyway. That stick isn’t gonna be much protection, Frisk. But it doesn’t matter. Not even all the power Asriel has from the souls will matter. Not anymore. Thanks for the determination, Papyrus. Now I can FINALLY erase everything!”

 Sans yawned. Not a tired yawn… that normally infuriating yawn that he did when he was pretending not to care one way or the other. ***sheesh, kid. what did humanity ever do ta ya, anyway?**

 The child’s chuckle was not pleasant. “Why don’t I spell it out for you?”

 By unspoken agreement, Chara and Asriel both attacked Sans at the same moment, cutting right through the wall of bone he put up to protect his brother, but Sans wasn’t there when the attack hit. He suddenly appeared behind them. ***aw, don’t look so ‘blue’.**

 He flicked his hand to the side, sending Chara tumbling as Asriel was forced to deal with another blaster. Sans was as nonchalant as ever, but there was a certain, desperation to his calm, calculated movements, that suggested Chara’s comments had cut deeper than he was letting on. “SANS, THAT’S ENOUGH.”

 His brother vanished, and reappeared at his side with a casual shrug, stuffing his hand back into his pocket. ***whatever you say, bro.**

 No longer under attack, Asriel raced to Chara’s side.

 The child lashed out angrily. “Get AWAY from me!”

 Something akin to horror washed across Asriel as he looked at Chara’s face. “Y-you’re really going to erase everything… aren’t you?”

 The anger was even closer to the surface now. “Don’t think I’ve been ignoring everything you told Frisk. You’re as bad as them! Oh, sure! Kill the MONSTERS just because you can. But don’t fight back against the people who DESERVE it, or anything!”

 Asriel faltered a step back, then another, until he was practically cowering beside them. “B-but… they shouldn’t have to pay for those mistakes…”

 It was apparent that Determination had once been Chara’s power as well, as the child got to their feet, and stared them down.

 “No.”

 “They shouldn’t.”


	28. Chapter 28

Frisk didn’t know what to do. This had never happened before. It was all new. And there was no more pretending that the blame lay anywhere else. 

After dying all those times, the questions had seemed so harmless at first…

 

What would Toriel do if her child actually stayed put?

What would Papyrus say if confronted with mean, negative, hurtful words? 

What would Sans say if told his brother _wasn’t_ cool? 

What would Undyne say if the vegetables were attacked instead of petted?

What would Alphys say if her advice wasn’t followed?

What would Mettaton say if the tile puzzle was beaten? 

What would Muffet say if given a 9999g donation in exchange for a donut? 

What would Asgore say if a cup of tea were refused?

What would Flowey say if he wasn’t spared?

What would happen if one of them were attacked? Or killed?

What would they say?

What would the others say? 

What would happen if…?

For maybe the first time, Chara’s hatred made sense. Self-loathing had dulled so many feelings, any anger Chara expressed seemed extreme, and unfair. But they were right.

The reset power was too tempting. It was an addiction that had to stop. “Chara…”

“DON’T. Ha… you think it will matter? That you can ACT your way out of this? WRONG FIGHT. So the only question here is, are either of you going to own up to what you did and FINISH this, or am I going to have to take charge?”

"ACTUALLY, TALKING WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA TO…”

“There have been too many words already, so just SHUT UP you idiot.”

Apparently Sans had been pushed to the limits of his patience. His voice had a warning edge to it.  ** *w a t c h    i t. **

Asriel looked torn for a moment, then he steeled himself, and walked back to Chara’s side. “I’m with you.”

“Whatever. Let’s just get this over with. First things first… we need to get these pathetic losers out of the way.”

Papyrus and Sans took a step forward, planting themselves in the middle without even saying anything.

This was it.

If they won, would the temptation to reset prove stronger than Papyrus’s belief? If they lost… everything would be erased. 

But… what if they didn’t?

What if the three of them were strong enough to stand up to Chara’s hate?

What if, instead of being reset, the timeline was finally allowed to move forward?

Papyrus felt something, too. He smiled backwards, still keeping an eye on the siblings ahead of them.  “I STILL BELIEVE IN YOU, FRISK. I ALWAYS WILL.”

There was a familiar tingling sensation, and then Chara laughed, a hard, humorless sound.  “You’ve brought about the end of the world with your foolishness, but, somehow, you’re still filled with DETERMINATION.”

 

*~*~*

Papyrus

*~*~*

 

He wasn’t sure how Chara knew, but he could feel the Determination transfer from himself, back to Frisk. Sans shot him a questioning look; his smile cracking around the edges a bit as he accepted the fact that even if they got out of this, they’d be back in the hands of the child’s mercy.

Frisk’s voice shook, and they could only manage one word. “H-help.”

He merely nodded as he and Sans were put to work, deflecting attacks. He felt better now that the determination was back where it belonged, actually. He hadn’t been drawing on it anyway, and it hadn’t belonged in him at all. He hadn’t even realized how sick it was starting to make him, until it he was free of it.

He spared another glance at his brother as Sans dodged another onslaught, craftily drawing the attacks away from Papyrus and Frisk, and then dodging out of the way at the last second. The sweat was gone, and he looked like he’d had a chance to rest while Chara was talking.

They all had. Which was good, since Asriel and Chara didn’t seem to need to rest.

By unspoken agreement, they fought back this time, hoping they could stop this before it went too far. 

He swelled with pride when he realized that Sans had actually been paying _attention_ all those times they’d practiced sparing. At the time, Sans had made light of it, yawning and tossing an extra bone attack or two into the mix, but, from the way their attacks were melding together now, his older brother had actually _memorized_ each and every one, and from the hits they were giving, that was something neither Asriel nor Chara had ever seen before. 

Which made him wonder…  “FRISK… DID I EVER SHOW YOU MY _SPECIAL ATTACK_ ?”

Now armed with a stick AND determination, Frisk was dodging back and forth, holding their own. “Um… no.”

Then maybe the other two hadn’t seen it either. Not unless they’d watched him practice.  “SANS?”

** *whenever you’re ready, bro. **

He politely waited for Asriel and Chara to finish their turn, then nodded at his brother.

He was conscious of their hp the entire time, just in case they weren’t as indestructible as they seemed. He dug deep, summoning his most power consuming attack, one that he’d spent, well, his entire time training, to perfect. Every single bone maze required perfection to navigate, leaving no room for error. But even after the spectacular onslaught of spinning bone mazes, whirling platforms, and a dozen devastating blaster attacks from Sans thrown in for good measure, all they’d done was anger the pair even further, and drain their own magic. 

This was dragging on too long, with no ending in sight, but even though Sans was looking tired, there was hope in his eyes that had been missing from his fight with Frisk. Papyrus wished he had the time or energy to cheer him on for not giving up, because right now… in light of all their efforts and the smug grin on Chara’s face, things seemed… bleak.

And then Frisk jumped to the front, waving the stick in the air like a victory banner. “HELP!”

He wanted to ask how… but apparently, Frisk wasn’t talking to them.

Asriel was thrown to the floor, and all of a sudden, his hp started to lower. Another special attack, and it was knocked down to 400.

“Useless.”

Chara began to focus everything they had on Frisk, while Asriel tried to fight him and Sans, and something else from within him.

“SANS! HELP FRISK!”

** *what?!  ** His brother froze, then stepped out of the way just in time to avoid an onslaught of star-shaped attacks. He glanced over his shoulder.  ** *looks like the kid’s got it under control, bro. **

“SO DO I.” 

Sans nodded, and teleported over to Frisk.  “FLOWEY… ASRIEL… I DON’T THINK YOU WANT TO DO THIS.”

He only got a glare in response. 

“CHARA WANTS TO ERASE EVERYTHING… EVEN YOU.”

The boss monster’s voice was a low growl. “It’s no more than I deserve.”

He knew he should be totally focused on his own fight, but he glanced over at Sans and Frisk anyway. The little human was excellent at dodging, and his brother seemed to be giving Chara a really bad time without moving much at all.

“EVERYONE MAKES MISTAKES. THAT DOESN’T MEAN THE WORLD SHOULD BE ERASED, OR THAT THAT’S EVEN OUR DECISION TO MAKE.”

 

*~*~*

Sans

*~*~*

 

He sure hoped his bro knew what he was doing, but he trusted him. He’d said he’d help however he could, and he’d meant it. He didn’t like it, but he trusted his brother.

Frisk was weaving around Chara’s attacks like a real pro, though the stick wasn’t nearly as deadly as the knife Chara was wielding; one that was giving off the same sort of vibe as the last corridor before the throne room. He had a feeling that he and that knife been _real_ close in past timelines, but he wasn’t here to rekindle that relationship. Not in front of Papyrus.

Not with the kid’s help.

Only trouble was, Chara seemed to have his and Frisk’s every move memorized. Maybe not in the right order, but as soon as a rhythm was developed, Chara had little or no trouble staying ahead of the attacks. There was a little stumbling and lack of coordination at first, since it’d been Frisk doing the actual dodging in those timelines, but Chara was a fast learner. He supposed that made sense. If anyone knew his and Frisk’s fighting styles, it would be Chara.

They were at an impasse, until one of them slipped up, or… he teleported them both back from an attack, and shot a grin at Frisk. The kid looked confused, until the unrelenting waves of attacks let up. 

Chara had seen all this, so that meant the two of them were that much more likely to be one step behind. But, even though he was still fighting to keep the timeline from just _stopping_ , he wasn’t doing it alone.

Which meant he could afford to mix it up more than he would have dared. In theory. But hey, the fact that they were _here_ was proof that whatever he’d thought was going to work hadn’t turned out so well. So maybe he’d be able to catch Chara off guard with the kind of attack people would expect of him…

Bingo.

After all the familiar, fast, attack patterns, the slow-moving ones caught Chara off guard. The timing was all wrong, and the bone attacks that should have been a cinch to avoid were connecting. With karma still added to the mix, and Frisk to contend with… they might be able to pull this off long enough to give Paps time to do… whatever he was trying to do.

 

 

*~*~*

Papyrus

*~*~*

 

Asriel’s hp was getting dangerously low, which meant he was running out of time. 

His own hp wasn’t doing so well, either, but he could still take a couple more hits.

Asriel looked close to tears, but he wasn’t sure if it was from fear, or hurt, or just plain anger. Whatever they were from, his next bone attack was a little too strong, and he had to pull it short as Asriel fell forward.

1 hp.

And he wasn’t healing, so… it was now, or never.  “THIS CAN’T GO ON FOREVER, ASRIEL. AND YOU DON’T EVEN WANT WHAT YOU’RE FIGHTING FOR.”

The next attack the boss monster unleashed was packed with fury and frustration. “Shut up! You don’t understand! I OWE this to Chara!”

“I THINK I DO… WELL, A LITTLE.”

“Ha! _YOU_? You’re probably the only monster in the whole underground who will _NEVER_ understand.”

“CHARA IS YOUR FAMILY. YOU DON’T WANT TO LET THEM DOWN. JUST LIKE I’D NEVER WANT TO LET SANS DOWN. BUT… IF MY BROTHER WERE TRYING TO DESTROY THE WORLD… I COULDN’T LET HIM.”

Asriel got back to his feet, glaring. "Right. Like you’d ever be able to bring yourself to dust him.”

... Why was everyone acting like those were the only two options?!  “IF HE WERE TRYING TO DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT, SOMETHING WOULD BE VERY, VERY WRONG WITH HIM. AND THAT WOULD MEAN THAT HE NEEDED MY HELP, JUST, NOT IN THE WAY HE WAS ASKING FOR IT.”

“Stop comparing Chara to that smiley trashbag!”

“DO YOU REALLY THINK CHARA WANTS TO ERASE EVERYTHING?”

In the pause that followed, he tried to think of something else to say. But sometimes, actions spoke far louder than even his words ever could. They both knew how tired Asriel was. They both knew that if Papyrus hadn’t pulled that last attack, something horrible would have happened.

Just like they both knew that, as tired as Asriel was… he still had more attack power than he’d ever need. After sparing him, Papyrus’s own remaining hp level wouldn’t matter… it would only take one hit.

He dropped his defenses.  “I’M NOT GOING TO FIGHT YOU ANYMORE.”

“Why? I thought you wanted to stop us.”

He was still alive. That was a good sign.  “BECAUSE I DON’T HAVE TO KILL YOU, TO STOP YOU.”

He flinched at the look Asriel gave him as he powered up his next attack. “You _idiot_! You actually had the chance to dust me, and you threw it away. For _what_? because you think you can change me? You think you can make a difference? _Don’t you know how many times you’ve tried?_ ”

The attack grew as Asriel prepared to fire. Maybe more talking would have helped more after all. At least he’d made a lasting impression. Frisk proved that they could be good… perhaps Asriel could do it, too.

He braced for impact, glancing to the left where Sans and Frisk were fighting. The powering attack drew Sans’s attention away from Chara, and he froze up, lights disappearing from his eye sockets, just as Chara aimed a vicious slash at his back.

He willed Sans to step out of the way, because neither of them could do anything about the other’s impending doom.

 

*~*~*

Sans

*~*~*

 

Papyrus was sparing Asriel… of _course _ that was his plan. He had to _think_ , and fast. Shortcuts… counterattacks… he had to do _something_! __

____

And then something rammed into him from behind, hard, knocking him to the ground.

____


	29. Chapter 29

His brave, super cool human friend hit Sans just before the attack did, taking most of it themself. They both toppled onto the ground, with Frisk draped over his brother, both very much alive as they stared at Papyrus in growing horror. Even Chara paused to watch.

Asriel’s attack was ready.

But it didn’t come.

Instead, it dissipated as the boss monster dropped to his knees, tears streaming down his face. “I don’t understand… I _dusted_ you so many times, I lost count. Why can’t I do it now?”

Now that immediate death wasn’t threatening, he glanced back over. Frisk was still draped over Sans, and a seething Chara was launching another attack behind them. 

Sans’s arm shot out, sending Chara tumbling straight into a bone wall. His brother had that huge, goofy grin in place as he realized that believing in Asriel had paid off.

Frisk scrambled off of him, and he got to his feet. He ruffled the human’s hair as he handed Frisk something from his pocket. Frisk ate it, getting their hp back up.

It was all the time they had before Chara was back, and they were both dodging again.

He needed to get over there and help them. But first…

He walked over to Asriel, and put his hand on his shoulder. “IT’S ALRIGHT.”

“No it’s not. I- I don’t know what to do.”

“THAT’S EASY! JUST DO THE RIGHT THING!”

“I… I c-can’t fight Chara!”

“THEN JUST HELP US STOP THEM, INSTEAD. IF I WERE ON A MURDERY RAMPAGE, I’D WANT SOMEONE TO STOP ME.”

“But Sans will… I can’t help him hurt Chara.”

“YOU JUST LEAVE SANS TO ME. I MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO GET HIM TO PICK UP ONE STUPID SOCK, BUT STOPPING HIM FROM HURTING THE PERSON THAT WANTS TO DESTROY EVERYTHING IS ANOTHER MATTER ENTIRELY!”

Asriel gave him that look that people got when they didn’t understand his reasoning, but, as usual, it didn’t phase him. Asriel would see soon enough.

“COME ON!”

They both hurried over to the fight, where Frisk and Chara were locked in combat, the stick somehow not breaking as it held off the knife.  “SANS, QUICK! DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING LEFT TO HELP ASRIEL?”

Sans chuckled, handing each of them a hotdog, eyes still trained on the human, magic at the ready. 

He didn’t know how Sans had managed to keep two condiment covered hotdogs in the pockets of his hoodie and have them look freshly made, and he didn’t really care… well, he _tried_ not to care as he forced himself to eat it to get his hp back up. 

The hotdog healed better than it should have. Sans must have packed it with extra magic. 

Frisk broke away from Chara, and came back to stand with them, the four of them staring the child down.

“You think this makes a difference? This is what I already SAID was going to happen, traitor. I’m not going to let any of you stop me. Not again.”

Asriel flinched a step backwards, looking more like a sad little kid than a boss monster with infinite attack. 

Sans didn’t look away from Chara. ***what’s the plan, bro?**

He wasn’t sure what Chara need to hear, but he knew what they _deserved_ to hear.  “FRISK? ISN’T THERE SOMETHING YOU WANT TO SAY TO CHARA?” 

Frisk took one step forward. “I’m sorry.” 

“You think that makes a DIFFERENCE?!”

Another step.  "I’m sorry for what I did. I’m sorry that I tried to blame you. I’m sorry for what I turned you into.”

“Being SORRY doesn’t matter! It doesn’t CHANGE what you’ve DONE! I’m not like these whimpering idiots. I’m not going to fall for those empty words.”

“I’m sorry for what I made you watch. For what I did to your family. Most of all, I… I’m sorry for doing such horrible things that… you felt like you needed to erase the world to protect it from me.”

“WELL DONE, FRISK!”

“Oh was it? What you YOU think, Sans? Does it make a DIFFERENCE? Do a FEW good deeds even matter after mass genocide has been committed?”

Sans glanced at Frisk for just a second as he answered Chara.  ** *so what you’re really asking is, do i think someone can decide to be good after turning on their own family? that wanting to do better could somehow make up for the things the weed pulled before the human got here? do i believe that even a kid who falls into the underground and discovers unimaginable powers, and decided to use them to kill off all their friends, can change? are you asking me if i believe that anyone can be a good person, if they just try? **

** *heh… yeah. i do. livin' with papyrus, i’d have to be a special kind of idiot to not believe THAT. **

Somehow, Chara hadn’t been expecting that.  “WHAT?! Hypocrite! You might believe that while your brother’s standing next to you, LISTENING to you, but let me assure you that at the end of the day, when you’ve FINALLY decided to get off your butt and DO something, it’s clear what you REALLY think of Frisk. I’ll give you a hint… your thoughts aren’t exactly MERCIFUL.”

Sans shrugged, not the slightest bit fazed.  ** *believing that somebody _can_ be good, and that somebody _will_ are two different things. i’m the first to admit that papyrus is made of stronger stuff than me. **

“FRISK, PERHAPS IT’S TIME TO SAVE THE OTHERS?”

Frisk nodded, running off to find them.

“It’s NOT going to matter. NONE of it. It will all start over again. Even if you defeat me now, there will ALWAYS be another reset, for me to try again. You’re only DELAYING the inevitable! It might not matter to you, but I’m going to have to WATCH.”

Asriel had other pressing concerns… “Wait… _where_ did Frisk go?”

“TO FREE THE OTHERS. YOU DIDN’T JUST TRAP SANS AND ME HERE, YOU KNOW.”

“But that would mean…”

“Asriel? Chara? M-my children!”

Chara shrank back as the beardless Asgore clone raced up to them, tears streaming down her face. 

Asriel just withdrew into himself. “M-mom? I… I didn’t want you to see me… not like I was… or… like… this.”

“Did you really believe it would matter? Chara… please… my child, come here.”

For just a second, he thought Chara was going to obey.  “It won’t MATTER. You won’t even REMEMBER this in five minutes.”

Asriel shrank, slowly, into an adorable little baby Asgore in a green swiped sweater. “Mom… you… you don’t know what I did.”

“What matters is that you are here, my child.”

A louder, booming voice asked, “Asriel? Chara?”

Chara turned, and ran away.

The Great Papyrus was right on their heels. 

** *papyrus!  ** And Sans was right on his. 

He wanted to laugh at his older brother, but he was feeling so… drained. Even though his hp was back up, his magic was all but spent, and he still felt strange from carrying Frisk’s Determination for so long. Sans’s concern about him running after a scared, hurting child just didn’t seem all that funny right now. Maybe later they could have a good chuckle about it.

He darted around Chara so that he was in front of them.  “WAIT… JUST… LISTEN TO ME, PLEASE.”

“If we all listen to you, they’re going to DIE. Over, and over, and over. It’s not going to matter much to you. You’re going to forget this ever happened. You’re going to go back to stupidly and naively believing that it’s the first time you’ve ever seen a human. But your brother isn’t that dumb. He might even remember bits and pieces of this. He’ll go back to faking smiles, and hiding behind awful puns, and keeping secrets that are slowly CRUSHING him, as he watched everyone around him DIE until it’s practically too late to do anything anyway. Do you REALLY want that? Don’t you see that THAT is what you’re fighting for?”

Chara ran past him, and he had to chase them down again, sliding to a stop in front of them.

“BUT… IT ISN’T. I KNOW THAT IT, _COULD_ HAPPEN. BUT… EVEN IF IT DID… EVEN IF FRISK IS LYING… HOW CAN YOU EXPECT ME TO AGREE THAT SANS WOULD BE BETTER OFF NOT EXISTING AT ALL??? YOU’RE NOT JUST GIVING UP ON THE HUMAN. YOU’RE GIVING UP ON EVERYONE. ALL THE MONSTERS YOU CLAIM TO WANT TO HELP… AT LEAST FRISK GIVES THEM A FIGHTING CHANCE.”

“There’s no sense TALKING to you. You’ll NEVER understand. You always die BEFORE them. It’s easy for you. Either you ‘save’ the day by changing the human’s mind once in a while, or you die trying, and leave the one person who CHOOSES to associate with you, and your pathetic excuse for a brother, to morn you until THEY die. I wonder… how much does Sans remember? Ha… does he know when, and where you’re going to die? Is he even surprised when it happens? Do you think he locks himself away in his room? Or has he seen it all so many times, he just goes NUMB?”

He felt the blow to his very soul. So much pain. He really didn’t know which it hurt less to believe… that Sans had to experience it fresh every time, or that he was being beaten over the head with it, over, and over, and over again.

Chara slipped away while he pondered this. He caught up more quickly this time.  “YOU’RE RIGHT. I WANT TO HELP MY BROTHER. I DON’T WANT HIM TO KEEP LIVING LIKE THIS, MEMORIES OR NO. BUT _ERASING_ HIM ISN’T GOING TO MAKE HIM HAPPY AGAIN. IT WOULD BE TAKING AWAY EVERY CHANCE HE HAD TO EVER SMILE FOR REAL, EVER AGAIN.”

As Chara tried to dart by again, he caught the little human up into a hug.  “PLEASE STOP RUNNING AWAY. THEY’RE YOUR FAMILY, AREN’T THEY? YOU NEED THEM.”

Chara struggled against him without using any real force. The knife clattered to the ground as they grabbed his wrist, trying to get free. There was the tiniest catch to their voice.  “NO! Let me GO! It’s all lies, and tricks, and it’s just going to HURT.”

“BUT… THEY’RE HERE. THEY MIGHT NOT REMEMBER WHAT YOU SAY, BUT… YOU WILL, WON’T YOU? DO YOU REALLY WANT TO REMEMBER RUNNING AWAY INSTEAD OF TALKING TO THEM? OF TELLING THEM HOW MUCH YOU CARE ABOUT THEM?”

Sans caught up to them and shoved his hands into his pockets as he slowed to a walk, then stopped a couple feet away, standing there like he hadn’t been worried in the slightest. 

“CHARA… YOU NEED TO TALK TO THEM. FAMILIES SUPPORT EACH OTHER. JUST LOOK AT THIS LAZYBONES…” He smiled down at a brother who didn’t look nearly as discouraged or hopeless as he had when this had started.  “ _RUNNING_ AFTER US LIKE A TOTAL DORK.”

Sans’s grin widened.  ** *ouch. heh heh… hey kid, you can’t ignore a _‘cutting’_ remark like that. **

Chara glared.  “Don’t start with me, comedian.”

***it’s always _’knife’_ to know someone new finds me _‘humerus’_.**

He couldn’t stop his own smile from growing.  “SANS, YOU REALLY USE THAT LAST ONE TOO MUCH.”

** *not like it’s the _‘bonely’_ one, bro. **

Chara covered their ears.  “STOP!”

“YES, THAT’S QUITE ENOUGH FOR NOW.” Papyrus started walking back towards the others, while the child in his arms pouted. 

Sans was able to keep up with the slower pace much easier.

They got back to the others, and found the former queen waiting for them. She trembled as she came forward, and took Chara out of his arms with a grateful nod.

The child curled up with a sob that was just broken. “Oh, my child… I never thought I would see you again.

Sans tugged his hand, leading him away from the reunion. He supposed it was a bit rude to stand there and listen at that. 

Asgore and Alphys were talking to Asriel, and Frisk was finding more monsters to save.

He turned to say something to Sans… after all, they had a lot of things to say to each other. He still had to tell him how proud he was of him. Sans mostly had explaining to do, though… he supposed, his brother would find a subtle way to acknowledge the achievements of The Great Papyrus as well.

But for right now… words weren’t needed. 

It was enough to just stand there beside Sans, and watch.

 


	30. Chapter 30

He’d gotten through to Chara, a little bit. But who better to get all the way through to the child than the family they clearly still loved? He had to admit, that even the great Papyrus could not provide the comfort and healing with the strength of a mother’s love. Well, maybe for Sans he could. But that was different. It was all a matter of family.

Chara’s voice drew everyone’s attention.  “But how? How can you just… forgive what I’ve done… what THEY’VE done?!”

Undyne stepped forward. “I see where you’re coming from. Hearing the stuff Frisk did? It makes me feel like an idiot for falling for their tricks, and makes me feel determined to go back to plan A!!!!” She yelled the last bit, and for some reason, Frisk took a timid little step back away from her. 

Perhaps the human had already forgotten that they had their powers back?

“But…” Undyne rubbed her arm, and gave a frustrated hiss. “Even though I don’t think I’ll ever be able to trust them as much as I did, well… having the guts to come back and fix everything _was_ pretty hardcore. And they turned to the right monster for the job.”

Papyrus felt tears welling up in his eyes. Sans didn’t even look up, he just gave a deep, knowing chuckle, and reached out to pat the back of Papyrus’s hand. 

Alphys stepped forward. “Y-yeah. S-sometimes, good i-intentions go wr-wrong. B-but real fr-friends are there f-for you. N-no matter wh-what.”

The kind, gentle former queen was still rocking the little child, but she had a sad smile for Frisk. “It is all in the past, my children. You are forgiven. No matter what you chose from this point forward.”

Asriel broke into new tears at this, and Asgore stepped forward to loom over the child in the former queen’s arms. “Chara, you are the hope of all monsters and humans. Stay determined.”

Undyne glanced at Frisk, and rolled her eye. “So… I’ll be watching you, but… for what it’s worth, fixing everything is at least a step in the right direction. So we might never be BESTIES anymore, but…”

Frisk nodded, and ran over to hug her leg. Undyne stiffened in barely contained fury for a second, then sighed, and grinned, and petted Frisk’s head. “Yeah, sure Punk. We’ll keep trying things the Papyrus way, huh?”

They all blurred behind welling tears as he reached out to the side and yanked Sans off of his feet, hugging him close around the waist like a skele-teddy-bear. There was no way Sans could hug back from this angle, so he just hung there and chuckled some more.

Chara stared at them all, and burst into broken sobs, turning to hide against the former queen’s shoulder. Asriel came running, and the kindly lady stooped down to hug him in her other arm. Asgore stooped down, and hugged all three of them.

They were still pretty blurry, but there was healing going on, he could tell. He rocked Sans back and forth, resting his cheekbone on the back of his brother’s skull.

Chara was trembling when they were finally set down. The child in front of him was broken, and confused, but filled with determination. They turned to Frisk.

“Fine. You win. They all forgive you for what you’ve done, s-so keep t-toying with them. W-what do I care??? I.. I….”

Frisk stepped forward, and hugged the child that looked so much like them. “No. No you stopped it. You showed me that I’d gone too far. But it’s okay. You don’t have to trust me. I have my determination back, but it’s different now. I’m DETERMINED to see what the FUTURE holds for us all. A future with no resets. Papyrus gave me my determination back, but he held it so long, I… I’m just determined to protect my friends. I couldn’t reset anymore if I wanted to.”

Chara choked up, but didn’t start crying again.  “It’s… over? It’s finally over???”

“No. It’s not. But the resets are. And I’m pretty sure we can still get them back to the surface.”

A single tear escape.  “Just… take good care of them, this time. Alright?”

The child turned back to their family.  “I’m… I’m sorry for what I put you through. You just meant… SO much to me. I…”

They slowly started to fade away, a contented smile on their face.  “I love you.”

Toriel smiled until they vanished, what was left of the little soul finally being allowed to move on, then she buried her face in her hands. Asgore tried to rub her shoulder, but she pulled away from him, putting distance between them.

Asriel was crying, too. “Come on, Frisk. I can feel what needs to be done. Let’s take care of that barrier.”

The little boss monster slowly rose, and started to glow. Soon, everything was too bright to see what was going on.

When Papyrus opened his eyes again, they were back where they’d been, in a room that was no longer blocked by a barrier. Frisk was lying on their back in front of them, a peaceful smile on their face, and everyone looked like they were struggling to remember something.

He held Sans a little tighter, then set his brother down. The great Papyrus’s tears were running down Sans’s cheeks, too, but his brother didn’t seem to care. His eyes were shining with enough pride to make even the coolest of brothers embarrassed. 

He smiled back. Lacking a tissue, he started to use the back of his glove to wipe away his tears, but Sans pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, and held it out.  “OH… THANKS.” 

He used that instead, grateful that it smelled and felt clean. Then he mopped his tears from Sans’s face, too. If he was not very much mistaken, there were a couple of Sans’s own tears mixed in. 

The others were trying to wake Frisk. 

Sans grinned up at him, looking happier than he had in a long time.  ** *heh heh… ya did it, bro. **

“NO, BROTHER. WE ALL DID. I ONLY PLAYED A SLIGHTLY LARGER ROLE THAN THE REST OF YOU.”

Frisk suddenly sat up straight.  “Do you all remember what just happened?” 

Frisk really hadn’t needed to ask. One look at the king and former queen was enough to know that they just been through something no parents should ever have to go through… and for the second time, too.

His soul ached for them, but he supposed that at least this time, they’d been able to say goodbye. 

Frisk turned to him. “Papyrus, should I tell them this time?”

He nodded.  “OF COURSE YOU SHOULD! FLOWEY IS VERY CONFUSED AND EMOTIONAL. HE DOESN’T KNOW WHAT HE NEEDS RIGHT NOW.”

“I think so, too. Come on, everyone. I think we need to take a walk.”

 

…

Sans's pov

…

 

His brother had always been cool. It was a simple fact of life. But for the first time, everyone in the entire Underground was more aware of how true this simple fact was. A lot of them had been watching Mettaton’s show. And the news of the barrier being broken spread ahead of them like wildfire. Papyrus was getting just as much credit as the human.

The queen was big news, too. It took quite a while to traipse back across the Underground, talking to every single monster on the way, but he wouldn’t have teleported past this for all the ketchup in the world. 

The resets were gone. Gone! They’d made it. At long last, they were going to the surface, and everything was finally out of the kid’s hands. Best of all, the kid really and truly looked like important lessons had been taken to heart. They were going to be able to learn to trust each other, and it’s wasn’t likely they’d be murdered in their sleep.

Sans felt almost giddy, and all the pride being showered on Papyrus was making him feel lightheaded. Maybe EVERYTHING was making him feel lightheaded. They’d need more time, more healing, but everything was gonna be just fine. He could feel it in the depths of his soul, and he captured the feeling, and held it there, because it had been a long, long time since he’d felt that way.

He blinked when the kid led them all back to the door of the ruins, and they walked back through. He glanced over at the lady… at Toriel, but though she seemed to be feeling the same joy as all of them that the barrier was finally down, she was grieving. He felt bad for being so giddy when she must be hurting, so much.

They walked through the ruins; such a lonely place. No wonder she’d been so eager to swap puns at the door with a totally weird stranger. 

Finally, they made it to where the kid was taking them. That had been… a long walk. But he still didn’t regret it. 

Toriel gasped in shock. 

Asriel was standing there, smiling down at flowers. He turned, and his eyes widened in shock and horror.  “Frisk! I was hoping you might come to say goodbye… but…”

Frisk cut him off. “You can’t stay down here by yourself. We can come back to take care of the flowers. They don’t care if you change back. You need to be with them.”

Asriel started to cry again. “You’ve heard every objection I have, haven’t you?”

Frisk nodded. “I could never convince you to come back to them. So I brought them, to you this time.”

“Oh, my child!” Toriel rushed forward and scooped him up into her arms. 

“Mom… you don’t understand. I can’t stay like this. I’m going to turn into a flower soon, and…”

“Hush. Please do not worry, my little one. I will love you no matter what form you are in. We will make this work. Will we not?”

There wasn’t much to lean against, so he leaned against Papyrus as they watched the reunion. Frisk was practically bursting with joy. The barrier was down, the resets had been conquered, Chara had moved on, Asriel was going home, in one form or another, and Papyrus had the fame and admiration he’d always wanted and deserved. 

With everything he knew, it was hard to believe in the happy ending, but from now on, he was going to take a page out of Papyrus’s book. If Frisk’s manipulation of the time-stream proved anything, it was that mistrusting everything was a sorry substitute for believing in the potential goodness of the world. 

He chuckled as he was yanked off of his feet again, front to, this time, so that he could hug his brother back.

The past was finally in the past where it belonged. 

The future stretched before them, ripe with possibilities. The thought was as wonderful as it was disconcerting, but in time, he’d learn to be positive, like his bro. He’d come a long way, already. 

Papyrus boinked his forehead lightly against his, and set him down, as they exchanged a  ** heh ** for a NYEH HEH HEH!. 

Frisk grinned at them all, filled with determination.  “Alright everyone! Let’s go to the surface!!!”


	31. Chapter 31

The surface was even more wonderful than he’d ever have imagined. Everyone was so happy, and that big glowing ball was so warm…  “HEY, SANS… WHAT’S THAT GIANT BALL?”

Sans chuckled, grinning a totally content grin.  ** *we call that “the sun”, my friend. **

“THAT’S THE SUN!? WOWIE!!!”

He couldn’t believe he was finally meeting the sun. The feeling was more… numb, than he would have imagined.

Nyeh heh, heh… he’d been through a lot. As much as he wanted to go exploring their enormous new world… he wouldn’t be opposed to heading back to their Snowdin house for a nap, either. 

Sans wouldn’t object to the idea, he was sure. 

Yeah… that sounded nice. 

A nap.

Sans turned to grin up at him, and his eyelights clouded over in worry.  ** *bro? you feelin’ okay? **

He waved it off.  “OF COURSE. BETTER THAN EVER, SANS… JUST… VERY, VERY… TIRED…”

** *paps? **

Tired enough to sit down right now, even. Or, drop down. Yes, that was much better. 

** *papyrus?! **

He just needed to close his eyes for a second. What was Sans getting all agitated about? Wowie… if this was how Sans felt every time he tried to take a nap, he might be owed an apology, or two… possibly more.

His head was throbbing. It helped a little when Sans’s arm slipped underneath it.

Worried voices crowded around him. He wished they’d just let him go to sleep. His mind couldn’t even discern most of the voices. 

_“What’s wrong with him?”_

_“Aw he’s just tired out. He just saved the entire underground, after all.”_

** *paps… **

_“O-oh n-no! N-no no n-no no no!!!”_

** *papyrus! look at me!!! **

“I’M… TRYING. DON’T WORRY… I’M FINE?” Was he? They all sounded so concerned. 

** *c-come on, bro. just try a little harder, okay? **

A tear splattered on his face… Sans was the only one close enough to be crying on him. No… this had to stop. Sans wasn’t allowed to be anything but happy, ever again. He squinted his eyes open and tried to wipe the tears away. He ended up just sort of punching his brother in the face.  “Sorry.”

Sans clutched him tighter.  ** *don’t you do it. not now. hold on, papyrus. **

He understood now. He was falling down. That was why he’d been feeling a little funny. The determination was too much for him. It had only ever been a matter of time.  “IT’S ALRIGHT. I STILL WANT THIS ENDING. THIS IS A GOOD ENDING.”

** *no! don’t talk like that! we’re gonna… **

“SANS, STOP.”

A tear slid down Sans’s face as he obeyed.  “YOU’RE GOING TO BE FINE. SO THIS, IS FINE. JUST… KEEP BEING YOU, OKAY?”

** *i’m not me without you. please… **

He found the strength to hug Sans to him, one last time.  “OF COURSE YOU ARE. YOU’RE GOING TO BE FINE. I PROMISE.”

Sans clung to him, shuddering. Their friends were watching them, with helpless looks on their faces. He’d upset them. He felt bad about that. But they were alive. 

They were safe.

They would be happy again.

That was all he cared about…

He felt the world slipping away, more and more, out of his grasp.

He’d forgotten to tell Sans how proud he was of him! But… surely he knew… it would be fine…

 

…

Sans’s pov

 

…

 

** *papyrus?! paps!!! c’mon, NO! please! **

He broke down, sobbing into his brother’s shoulder. This wasn’t tired… this was falling down. 

The kid sounded about as torn up about this as he felt. “We can save him, right? He’s not turning to dust? Right?!?!”

Somewhere behind him Alphys started to explain what falling down meant to a monster. He blocked it out, but it didn’t matter. He already knew.

So much for happy endings. So much for second chances, and justice. 

It wasn’t FAIR. Papyrus, more than any of them, deserved to be the one walking out of this unharmed. Five minutes ago, he’d been rejoicing that the reset button was gone. 

Right now, he’d give anything for one more. Just ONE more. He wasn’t as good at things as Paps, but there had to be a way to trade places with him, here. He didn’t CARE about the surface. The one and only requirement for his personal happy ending was his bro being alive and happy. He didn’t want to live in any other world.

There had to be something they could do… but he knew there wasn’t.

***papyrus… please…**

Just be tired. Just be sleeping. Just WAKE UP.

“B-but… this has n-never h-happened, be-before… s-so… m-maybe we could t-try… something? W-we should t-take him t-to the l-lab…”

No experiments. But the lab had equipment. Maybe they could tweak the DT extractor or something. Remove what was killing him. Wake him up… 

He swiped his sleeve across his eyes. ** *i’ll take him. meet us there. **

“B-but…”

He teleported them to the lab. Managed to get Papyrus into a bed. Managed not to shake him, and scream at him to wake up.

Tests… that’s what he needed. Maybe it was something stupid. Maybe he was just jumping to the worst possible conclusion again…

Maybe he’d always been right, no matter how wrong he’d hoped he was.

But the scans didn’t leave room for doubt. There were still traces of determination in his body. It was melting him from the inside out. Human determination had still found a way to get to them in the end. ** *papyrus? please… if you can somehow hear me… fight this. you’re stronger than determination. ya proved that, yeah? i… i need ya, bro. you can’t ask me ta be happy without you… that’s not fair. we got plans, remember? for the surface. you and me both. i… i know you’re tired. and i know i don’t got any right ta ask this of ya… but please… beat this. for the kid. and for undyne, and for all your new fans. and for me. ‘cause i’m a mess without, ya, right? i.. i can’t e-even pick up o-one lousy s-sock. **

He broke down, crying again. This wasn’t helping. What was he trying to do? Fill Papyrus with regret in his last few moments of consciousness? If his brother was going to dust, did he really want to make him feel like he’d somehow, in any way, failed any of them?

** *s-sorry, bro. i just… i love ya, okay? y-you understand that. i-i’m not gonna give up, so, so just don’t either, okay? you did r-really great already, but j-just one more miracle, and i won’t ever be lazy again… i promise. **

“Sa-ans…” The voice was too quiet, except for the fact that he shouldn’t have been speaking at all.  ***papyrus!?**

His bro coughed a few times.  “Don’t.”

Papyrus’s voice was so weak… he just didn’t have the strength for his normal volume anymore.  ** *d-don’t what, paps? **

“Don’t change. Not too much, okay?”

** *paps… **

“Shhh… I know. I wasn’t really expecting this, either. But this is so much better than it could have been.”

** *how could it possibly get any worse?! **

Papyrus coughed on a chuckle.  “Sans! I think you’re forgetting that pretty much all of us died last time. And that we stopped the whole world from being reset. This is fine. I can live with this.”

** *… n-not cool, bro. **

“Right… well, I’m fine with it. And you’ll see… I might not have meant to make that ‘live with it’ pun… but you’ll be chuckling about that for YEARS.”

No, he wouldn’t. After their last few precious moments were expired, he wasn’t ever going to be able to laugh again. But Papyrus had decided he didn’t want him to change, so it was time to suck it up, and pretend to be fine again.

“N-no. Don’t do that, either.”

** *what? **

“Hide what you’re feeling. I know what that looks like now… even if it’s almost too late.”

His bro’s sockets were drooping shut. They were running out of time. 

Just rest? Just keep his strength? When a monster fell down, that was IT. You didn’t come back from that, unless you got blended together with a bunch of other consciousnesses in a goop. And he felt sick to his non-existent stomach for considering that option. 

Pap’s eyes flew back open.  “OH! SANS!” 

***shhh… i can hear ya. don’t strain yourself.**

Papyrus’s voice dropped back down a couple dozen octaves as he relaxed, the strength still not there.  “Alright. But, I wanted to tell you before. I’m really, really proud of you. I was afraid I missed my chance.”

He reached out to grip Papyrus’s hand in both of his. 

** *… paps… **

“For everything. E-even the bad timelines… you… you did what you felt you had to. And you didn’t give up. So… so I know you have it in you. If you can keep going through THAT, and still fight as hard as you did… still keep giving the human a chance to make the decisions to turn back, until the last ounce of your strength is used up…”

He’d almost used up the last ounce of his own strength to say this.  “Then losing me this time should be easy, in comparison.” 

***there were resets.**

He should be the one comforting his brother. Not derailing Papyrus’s attempts to comfort him. But Sans didn’t WANT to be okay with this. Ever.

“Maybe so. But don’t pretend you knew the human would always reset.”

** *i just… i had that last little bit of hope, ya know? **

“Well that’s easy! We’ll see each other again, brother. After you’ve lived a long… happy… life… I know… I know it will not have me in it… but maybe… maybe I’ll be able to look down, and see it? I hope so. Maybe that thought will help?”

** *…. yeah. sure, bro. **

Pap’s chuckle was so weak.  “I don’t expect it to help right now, Sans. Just… try, okay? I know it’s not fair to ask, what with me not being able to do what you want, but…”

***papyrus, you can ask me anything.**

“That smile you had, walking onto the surface. Try to get that back, okay? For me?”

** *heh… sure. i’ll try. every… every time i’m… reminding everyone of how… the great papyrus… s-saved everyone… **

Papyrus’s eyes were closed again.  “Sans… that’s a happy story. Don’t cry…”

Papyrus pulled him close, but his normal strength just wasn’t there.  “I remember when the human killed me. All I wanted was to know everyone was okay… and to have made some sort of difference. S-so you see??? I know it could be much worse… Sans…”

***bro?**

He was trying not to cry, but he couldn’t help it. 

Papyrus didn’t so much as move again, and he hadn’t collected himself by the time Undyne rushed in with Alphys tucked under her arm. “Sorry that took so long. Had to bypass all the elevators.”

“H-how is h-he?”

They could see for themselves. But he pulled back and wiped his sleeve across his face anyway.  ** *’s not good. heh… **

Undyne looked like she wanted to punch him until he felt his face pinch up again. She made a dismayed noise in the back of her throat, and bent over to hug him. “Hey… we’re gonna beat this. Don’t you fall apart on us, now.”

Fall apart… great choice of words there. But she was trying, and some distant part of him appreciated the effort. ‘Sides, she was right. He had to keep it together. 

** *alph, it’s the exposure to the determination. can we… i don’t know, stabilize him somehow? stop him from f-falling… **

He couldn’t even say it. 

Alphys paled considerably, and started shaking. “It’s j-just t-too r-risky!”

** *alphys… what’ve we got to lose? **

“I c-can’t. Y-you know what th-that would d-do to him.”

Unfortunately, he did. And not even the part of him desperate to try ANYTHING to keep Papyrus with him was willing to trap him as some sort of eternal blob, tangled together in dozens of other minds.

Undyne sat by Papyrus as he hovered in between coming over to check for changes, and helping Alph sort through the information they had. 

The door opened after a while, and Toriel and the kid walked in. Frisk was crying, and came running to hug him. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

 

** *… **

 

** *paps would tell ya it isn’t your fault. **

But he couldn’t. Not now at least. He’d meant the words comfortingly, and they were the most comforting ones he could offer right now, but the kid started sobbing.

Toriel was checking to see if she could try healing magic, but there was nothing wrong with Pap’s hp. His soul was just… melting.

Sans sighed, and hugged the kid back.

Toriel came over, and stooped down to hug both of them. “How are you doing?”

They weren't empty words. She knew loss too well. ** *… about as well as can be expected. **

She patted his shoulder, while Frisk sniffed. “It’s not fair. I should be the one paying for what I did. Not Papyrus.”

He sighed.  ** *…if… if anyone had ta pay… he’d have wanted it to be him. you… you can’t blame yourself for picking him, kid. no one else coulda gotten us this far. **

A tear ran down his cheek, and he didn’t bother wiping this one away. 

There was a warning beep from the equipment monitoring Papyrus’s soul.  ** *what’s that? **

Alphys started to wring her hands again. “H-he’s still h-hanging on b-but… n-not by m-much. It w-wont be m-much longer.”

Frisk choked on a sob.  “Isn’t there anything we can do?”

He walked over to Papyrus’s side again.  ** *heh… if you’ve got any ideas kiddo, i’d love to hear ‘em. because we don’t have a lot of options, or time to try ‘em in. **

Frisk followed.  “Papyrus? I didn’t know this would happen. I’m sorry. But please… stay determined!”

Was it his imagination, or had Papyrus’s face twitched in response? At this point, he was probably just desperate enough to imagine it.


	32. Chapter 32

Sans had lots of people who cared about him. Undyne, he knew, wouldn’t let his brother slip into an endless depression. She’d force him to start living again, if that’s what it took. And then there was Sans’s friend from the door in the woods. And Frisk, of course, and even Dr. Alphys.

 They might not be a substitute for the great Papyrus, because there just wasn’t a substitute for a great Papyrus if you were a Sans, but… the important thing was that they were all alive, and his brother wouldn’t be alone. It would be okay. He could just… rest?

 Wait a second! That wasn’t very Papyrus at all!

 Here Sans was, promising not to be lazy, while he, The Great Papyrus, was just too tired to be bothered? Yes, he’d be happy to make this sacrifice for them, but he wasn’t going to miss out on the surface without fighting as hard as he could! He wanted to see them all enjoying their new lives. He wanted to help Frisk continue to reform. He wanted to perfect the pasta recipe with Undyne. He wanted to drive a car on the surface.

 He wanted to stay with his brother.

 Yes, this was okay, but was there a better way? Could he listen to the human, and stay determined?

 There it was… the determination that was killing him. Could he use it? Was there enough to let him stay? There was only one way to find out. And, it couldn’t hurt to try.

 Now wasn’t the time for napping. Not until he’d given it his ALL.

 He dug deep, as if summoning up his most powerful attack, and called on something else, instead…

 He was vaguely aware of the air of panic that took over the room around him. But he couldn’t focus on that. Not yet. If he could just open his eyes, maybe he could at least comfort them a little more.

 It was worth a try.

 

***…**

**Sans’s pov**

***…**

 “Oh n-no!” Alphys gave a sharp intake of breath. “N-no, no, no, no n-no, n-not a-again!”

  ***what?!**

 She turned to him, mournfully. “Th-this is why I d-didn’t want to t-try the d-determination… b-but… it’s a-already in h-his system.”

  ***what’dya mean? what’s happening?**

 “W-well… th-the amalgamates… S-sans, they w-were able t-to combine w-with each other. P-Papyrus is a-alone.”

  ***alphys, that doesn’t explain what’s wrong.**

 He wasn’t sure he wanted to know…

 “H-he won’t b-be able to c-combine. Th-the c-condition w-were the same f-for the o-others. The ones that c-combined. Th-they were i-injected at the s-same time, with the s-same amount of DT, s-so they’re not, c-compatible. A-at best, he w-would j-just…. p-pass on, l-like n-normal. B-but… h-he… he could end up j-just a p-puddle, un-unable to b-be reached, o-or e-even, d-dust.”

  That… that just couldn’t happen. Losing Papyrus was bad enough, but the thought of him not even passing from this life to the next because of some stupid determination residue… no. No, it just couldn’t happen. He reached out for his brother’s hand again. If they needed another monster to stabilize Paps… ***what if we had another monster with compatible levels for him to… merge with? we’ve still got dt, down here, right? maybe if we injected enough into me…**

 She gave a little cry of dismay. “S-Sans! H-he wouldn’t w-want you t-to…Besides… It’s n-not even that s-simple!”

  ***just answer the question. would it help him in any way?**

 “N-no! You would have h-had to have b-been e-exposed f-for the s-same amount of t-time. D-doing something l-like that, would o-only curse you to the same f-fate.”

  ***are you factoring in my 1 hp? maybe we could cheat the numbers.**

 A puddle? A scared, lonely, confused puddle for the rest of eternity? No. He didn’t care if he ended up one, too. He wasn’t going to let his little bro face that alone.

 “Sans, y-you’re not th-thinking straight. I kn-know you’re upset, b-but a-all the other monsters h-had varying l-levels of h-hp. I-it doesn’t f-factor in.”

 Something inside of him snapped as even THAT course of action was denied. ***then tell me what i CAN do!**

 There were tears in his eyesockets as the anger dulled, leaving him just plain helpless. ** *stop telling me what won’t work, and just tell me how i can help him. please, alph. please… **

 “I w-wish I c-could. But th-there’s… there’s n-nothing a-any of us c-can do. I’m so s-sorry.”

 This couldn’t be it. He couldn’t be sitting here watching his little brother melt into a puddle, but… he was.

 And then, he wasn’t…

 Papyrus’s soul started to glow, faintly, then brightened. His bones solidified, not quite right, but closer to the way they were supposed to look. ** *what’s happening? what is that? **

 “I… I don’t… h-he’s… he’s st-stabilizing? H-how?”

 Because his brother was the coolest, that’s how. ***that’s it, paps. hang on. you got this, bro.**

 Undyne was on the other side of the bed, and lost no time screaming into his face. “YEAH! Come on, Papyrus! We need you back here! Your brother’s bawling like a baby!”

Well, no he wasn’t, but he’d gladly accept the statement if it had any chance of dragging Papyrus anywhere out of the ‘eternal puddle’ theory’s danger zone.

 Frisk climbed up on the bed beside them.  “Come on, Papyrus! Just do what any of us would do. BELIEVE in YOU!”

 He rubbed the kid’s head with a chuckle as his bro’s soul started to glow even brighter, taking comfort in the fact that there was a much calmer look on his face.

…

PAPYRUS’S POV

…

 He’d blanked out for a second there… he’d been losing the battle, when something pulled him back. Back towards what, he wasn’t even sure anymore. Everything hurt, and he’d never wanted a nap more in his entire life.

 So this was it then. He was falling down. There was no stopping it. Oh well, even the great Papyrus had his limits, he knew that. The important thing was that he had tried. He’d given it his all. He hadn’t gone down without a fight. He tried to open his eyes, just to get his bearings…

 And found himself staring straight into his brother’s grinning face. Tears, or no tears, he was pretty happy to see him.

 Dr. Alphys was somewhere in the room. She still sounded worried. “Sans! you sh-shouldn’t!!!”

 His brother ignored the warning, wrapping his arms around him in a tight hug. He found the strength to hug back. But not to talk as clearly as normal.  “What’s going on?”

 Was Undyne suplexing that machine? Yes. And Sans was crying into his shoulder now. But they weren’t the same tears from before. ***y-ya came back, bro.**

 Frisk looked about ready to burst with joy, and everyone else was watching from a distance, giving them their space, though that seemed to have more to do out of respect than any warning of Alphys’s.

 Back? Back from where? And what had pulled him back this time? Everyone knew that a monster couldn't come back from falling down... “I… I DON’T UNDERSTAND.”

 San’s chuckle was a little blubbery, but he was quickly getting hold of himself enough that it seemed prudent to prepare himself to react to a pun. But Sans simply said, ***me neither.**

  ***but… it doesn’t matter right now.**

 Well, if SANS didn’t understand yet, then that was alright. The important thing was that they were all still safe, and he was still here.

 Sans wasn’t crying anymore. He was still clinging to him, and Papyrus was clinging back, just as hard.

 Dr. Alphys was the only one in the room that looked worried, but she stopped whatever she’d been going to say before even getting a syllable out.

 He was glad. They needed this moment. Even if the next one brought something as scary as everything they’d been through. But Sans had caught it, too, and, for once, he wasn’t content to let it go. ***what’s the matter, alph?**

 She sighed. “I-it’s alright. F-for now. His s-soul st-stabilized. B-but there’s n-no telling how l-long it w-will last. Th-there’s just n-no precedent. I-I have to w-warn you, th-that a-at best, he’ll,” she stopped talking to Sans, and turned to look him in the eye. “Y-you’ll p-probably n-never be qu-quite the s-same. Y-you’ve got d-determination in y-you, but there’s j-just enough left to k-keep you stable. Y-you’re not g-going to h-have as m-much energy, and i-if the l-level fl-fluctuates… I-I’m sorry.”

 He smiled at her, feeling more and more like himself all the time, as he found the strength to sit up a little.

 Yes, he still felt like he wanted a nap. But… other than that… he was feeling much better already.  “DON’T BE SILLY. YOU HAVE NOTHING TO APOLOGIZE FOR! BESIDES… WHILE THE SITUATION MAY BE… LESS THAN IDEAL… EVERY SECOND THAT I HAVE WITH YOU ALL IS MORE THAN I THOUGHT I WOULD HAVE BEFORE. NOW THEN, THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR CONCERN, BUT WHAT ARE YOU STILL DOING HERE??? GET BACK UP TO THE SURFACE. I’LL BE UP… IN A LITTLE BIT.”

 He shifted to get more comfortable, and Sans settled in. ***yeah… thanks you guys. i’ll stay here with paps. we’ll call if anything changes.**

 He rolled his eyes. “SANS, I MEANT YOU, TOO.”

  ***what? go up there instead of taking a nap? not a chance, bro.**

 “SANS… DON’T BE LAZY.”

Oh HOW he would have missed that infuriating grin!  ***paps, you were _just_ telling me not to change. **

  “THAT WAS WHEN I THOUGHT I WASN’T GOING TO BE HERE! NOW THAT I’M NOT GOING ANYWHERE, A LITTLE CHANGE COULD DO YOU SOME GOOD!”

 One by one, their friends trickled out. Undyne punched him lightly in the arm. “Coming back from falling down? Pretty hardcore, buddy.”

 Alphys seemed to be addressing Sans more than him. “I-i’ve s-set the m-monitors. They’ll go off i-if anything s-seems wr-rong. Y-you r-really sh-should b-both try to g-get some r-rest.”

 Yes, somehow, Sans seemed even more exhausted than he felt. He shifted his brother so that it was more comfortable to hold him. He knew Sans could fall asleep if he dangled him by his ankle. “DON’T WORRY. WE'LL TAKE CARE OF EACH OTHER.”

 The king smiled kindly at him before following the other two.

 Sans’s friend smiled at them, and gave him a kiss on the forehead. “I am so glad you are feeling better, Dear.”

 “THANK YOU!”

 Frisk climbed up beside them to give them both a hug. “Thanks for saving all of us, Papyrus.”

 He hugged the little human back.  “OF COURSE! THAT’S WHAT GREAT PEOPLE DO! THANK YOU FOR LETTING ME HELP, FRISK.”

 The child climbed down, and left with the others.

 He settled back into the pillows, pulling Sans up beside him since he didn’t have the energy to carry him to one of the other beds, and he knew his brother wasn’t going to be bothered to walk in this state.

 He was kind of glad. It felt nice to cuddle beside his brother, even if Sans DID make him feel even more tired than he already was. “SANS?”

  ***yeah, bro?**

 Tired or not, he still felt bad that Sans was missing out on surface excitement on his account, but...“THANK YOU FOR STAYING WITH ME. I… I’M GLAD TO BE HERE WITH YOU, BROTHER.”

 Sans cuddled a little closer. ***heh… yeah, well, there ain’t nothin’ that could drag me away from ya right now. so try to rest up, ok, papyrus?**

 He yawned, a little worried that it sounded like Sans was going to try to stay awake. HE shoudl be the one to stay awake, but... his brother's presence was just too soothing.  “I’LL TRY.”

  ***i don’t got the book, or nothin’, but… i’m pretty sure i know fluffy bunny by heart, if that would help…**

 He didn’t really need a bedtime story. But it would be nice. And maybe Sans needed one. “IF YOU DON’T MIND…”

 Sans’s deep chuckle rumbled against him. ***alright then.**

 Sans barely got started before sleep pounced on Papyrus, dragging him under. But it wasn’t a scary place he was being dragged to, and being dragged wasn’t the right term at all. He just felt… happy, and warm, and safe. And Sans’s voice, quietly repeating the words they both knew by heart was soothing enough to erase all his apprehension about what the future might hold. Because just then, warnings, and resets, and determination aside, he knew that, if the future held even a handful of these moments… he’d be even more deeply blessed than he’d already been.

 He gave one last yawn, then let Sans’s storytelling skills lull him to a peace-filled sleep.


	33. Chapter 33

Epilogue: 

Sans stepped out of the front door of the house that was no longer sitting in Snowdin. It was on the surface, now, within walking distance of ‘’home, short for New New Home. The King never had gotten any better at naming things. 

It was still kind of funny to take notice of things like the weather. It was a gorgeous, sunny day, much like it had been on their first morning of freedom, exactly one year ago to date.

A year that was filled with hope, and healing, and bittersweet memories. He sighed. Not here… not now.

There wasn’t even anyone around to notice the joke, but he started walking in the wrong direction as he activated the ‘shortcut’ anyway. Seconds later, he was standing on the outlook again. The view wasn’t quite as ‘breathtaking’ as it had that first day, but that was natural. They were free, and used to things like the stars, sky, and sun. Just not _too_ used to them, because anything that they hadn’t had Underground was a reminder of how lucky they were. 

Even if there had been some bumps along the way.

He sighed, and sat down; leaning up against the memorial they’d built for Papyrus, not bothering to glance at it. He spoke softly.  ***hey, bro. the others will be here soon. i just wanted to beat the crowd.**

Even if life on the surface hadn’t been everything everyone had always imagined, a lot of dreams had come true. The monument he was leaning against was proof of that; proudly naming Papyrus the greatest member of the royal guards… at all the royal guards’ insistence, no less. Sure, the royal guard had technically been disbanded before Papyrus became an _official_ member, but that little detail hadn’t bothered anyone after everything he’d done and risked, and… lost, to save them.

Some days Sans just missed that never-tiring energy _so_ much, it felt like he’d never be able to get out of bed again. But he did. And he smiled about it, for Papyrus. And, as he’d learned Underground… smiling helped. Some days it helped more than others, but it always helped. 

Other dreams had come true, too. Toriel had her school, and she loved it even more than she’d ever imagined she would. They still loved their knock-knock jokes, but swapping puns face to face was nice, too. 

Frisk was still living with her, of course, and the kid was doing just fine without resets. Despite everything, it had been almost _too_ easy to forgive Frisk. From time to time, he’d search himself, still expecting to discover some deep buried resentment, but it just wasn’t there. The past was in the past, and it was clear just how much Frisk cared for all of them. All the monsters loved the kid right back, and he was no exception.

Flowey was… himself again. But he was trying. 

Asgore had taken on a role that was more ‘leader’ than ‘king’, even though the monsters hadn’t dropped the title. He and Tori were still working things out, but he’d won her forgiveness, and was slowly starting to earn her trust again, just as long as he was careful to avoid mentioning getting back together. It was still too soon for her to think about anything like that.

Alphys hadn’t gotten her job back as the royal scientist. They hadn’t really needed a royal scientist anymore anyway. She’d kept herself busy, engineering ways to tap into the core to bring their energy to the surface with them, at first. These days she worked mostly with machines, and she was much happier for it.

Grillby had reopened on the surface. Sans’d actually offered to move the old place up like he had the house, but Grillby had declined, and taken the opportunity to expand a bit. He hadn’t changed it too much, though, so the new Grillby’s still had that comfortingly familiar atmosphere.

Undyne was the same as ever, royal guard, or no. She was more of a police officer now days, or, as he liked to call her, (much to her annoyance) a _peace_ officer. Every time she accused him of punning, he just grinned, and reminded her that it was actually a more accurate job description.

He’d been doing just great with the whole ‘changing without changing’ thing. An occasional nightmare still got him from time to time, but he was healing, the same as any of… well, almost any of them.

Because then there was Papyrus. No one had cared about some of the effects of the DT. While his bro hadn’t exactly been _ecstatic_ about the way his bones looked like they were melting in place, he hadn’t let it get him down. At first, they’d had high hopes that there would be no other side effects, but of course there had been more. Even after Papyrus had "recovered" there would be times when his strength would just… not even drain away… It was more like all his energy would just, flush out of him. Sans had done what he could to help, but it was hard on both of them, and they always had that grim knowledge in the back of their minds that each time could be the last. 

Even though Alphys no longer worried about the levels fluctuating, it kept them aware. Refused to let them take the good things in life for granted, maybe a little more than the others.

***hard to believe so much time has passed…**

He shifted his weight against the monument, and turned his head to get a better look at his brother beside him, who hadn’t moved since he’d arrived.

It was a full moment before Papyrus pulled himself out of his daze, first with a slow blink, and then he sat up a little.  “OH… SORRY, SANS… YOU SAID SOMETHING, BEFORE, TOO, DIDN’T YOU?” 

He chuckled softly.  ***doesn’t matter.**

Pap’s voice went from apologetic to indignant.  “OF COURSE IT MATTERS! I WASN’T IGNORING YOU ON PURPOSE!”

His bro was just tired. No way he was gonna make him admit that out loud.  ***the others are on their way, and i was saying how crazy it is that’s it’s been a whole year.**

“OH… YES.. HARD TO BELIEVE IT’S BEEN THAT LONG, ISN’T IT?”

Papyrus scooted closer to him, and hugged him around the shoulders. He didn’t want to ask, but… he had to know.  ***so… you feelin’ alright?**

“YES. I MADE IT UP IN JUST THE ONE GO THIS TIME. THAT’S A MARKED IMPROVEMENT.”

***sounds like you’re reaching the last _‘leg’_ of your recovery, bro.**

Papyrus made a halfhearted scoffing noise in the back of his throat. 

Yeah, it was hard seeing him like this… barely able to stand up when he should have the energy to do the somersaults he probably felt like doing.

Why anyone would WANT to do somersaults after climbing a mountain was beyond Sans, but if Paps wanted to, it seemed like he ought to be able to.

He felt caught in the middle, sometimes. Because Papyrus was still, in his current condition, going above and beyond, each and every day. So maybe that was just doing laundry on some days. Papyrus still did it, even if it took every ounce of strength he had.

Meanwhile, Sans was forced to stand helplessly on the sidelines; motivated to get off his lazy butt and help, but knowing how much it grated on Pap’s nerves when he was struggling to do things that didn’t even make Sans break a sweat. 

So he helped where he could, in ways that weren’t too obvious, or better yet, when Papyrus was asleep. He never seemed to notice the extra things that had gotten done while he was sleeping. Once or twice he’d commented that he hadn’t even remembered doing them, though, and that alone was enough for Sans to keep up the practice. 

Maybe Papyrus knew as well as he did what was going on, but the important thing was, it let him help without rubbing it in Papyrus’s face that he needed to.

And Papyrus really was gaining ground all the time. Alphys insisted that he’d never be back to normal, but she just didn’t know his bro as well as he did. If ANYONE could swing back from something like that with a full recovery, it was Papyrus. 

“WHEN DID YOU SAY THE OTHERS WERE COMING?”

***soon.**

“OH.”

On the other hand, sitting like this had become normal. At first, Papyrus had fidgeted a lot, unable to wrap his mind around that fact that he was lounging on the couch in the middle of the day ‘like a Sans’. But it wasn’t as hard for him as watching Sans do more chores than Papyrus was able. Sans wasn’t sure why…

Maybe he was able to convince himself that this was just what bro time looked like now. Maybe he considered it some sort of favor to Sans, to repay him for ‘rising’ to his new role. Or maybe it was just the lazy energy he tended to give off. Maybe it made it fine, and necessary, and even a bit nice, to just relax because his energy was gone, and his lazy brother loved to relax.

“YOU DIDN’T CHANGE MUCH.”

***huh?**

Papyrus stretched a little, getting back some of the energy he’d used up climbing the mountain.  “IN THE LAST YEAR. YOU’VE CHANGED A LITTLE, BUT NOT MUCH.”

It was hard to tell from his tone of voice what he meant by that. It was just so, matter of fact, neither ecstatic, or dismayed. Papyrus yawned.  “I’M GLAD.”

 

…

PAPYRUS’S POV

 

…

Sans chuckled, sliding over another inch closer to him.  ***i’ve been thinking the same thing about you.**

He gave his brother a hopeful look that only had a little doubt left in it.  “REALLY?”

***yeah. you might not have the energy ya used to, but, you’re still the same ol’, big-hearted, never give up, super cool bro, that you’ve always been. i’m glad, too.**

“THAT DESPITE EVERYTHING, IT’S STILL US?”

***heh… yeah. exactly. you get that from a greeting card or somethin’?**

He shook his head.  “NO… I THINK IT’S ONE OF THE THINGS CHARA LIKED TO MAKE NOTE OF. I DIDN’T GET A LOT OF THEIR THOUGHTS, BUT THAT ONE STOOD OUT, FOR SOME REASON. AT FIRST, BECAUSE IT SEEMED LIKE A SILLY THING TO SAY. I KEPT THINKING ABOUT IT, WONDERING IF IT WAS A PUN OR SOMETHING, BUT THAT WASN’T IT.”

***no?**

He stood up, slowly, but surely, and, while he wasn’t doing somersaults, it was reassuring to at least walk in circles.  “NO. AND THE MORE I THOUGHT ABOUT IT, THE MORE I REALIZED THAT IT MIGHT BE MORE OF A PUZZLE THAN A PUN. BECAUSE AT FIRST, IT SEEMS SO OBVIOUS. OF COURSE IT’S STILL ME, RIGHT? I AM PAPYRUS. BUT THEN I REALIZED THAT IT WAS DEEPER THAN THAT. WE ALL WENT THROUGH THINGS THAT COULD HAVE CHANGED US, AND THEY DID, A LITTLE. BUT… IT’S STILL US.”

***yeah… that’s pretty deep alright. in fact…**

Papyrus sighed, and crossed his arms, but turned around with an affectionate smile, waiting to see how badly he was going to have to overreact. 

***it’s so _‘deep’_ you probably should have gone back underground to think about it.**

Eh, that one wasn’t nearly clever enough for the reaction he’d been planning. He did a half eye roll, instead, and nothing more. He took a step forward, coming to sit back down, then stopped, looking up. 

Sans got to his feet lazily, and strolled over to stand beside him instead. 

“IT’S REALLY A VERY GOOD LIKENESS.”

The stone Papyrus was larger than life, holding a stone Frisk in his arms.  ***heh heh… i just hope they don’t take you for _‘granite’_.**

He gave that one a smirk, but then frowned as he studied the statue, keenly aware that they’d missed one key detail, and as much as he hated to complain about a statue built in his honor… he wished they’d included the thing that was more important than his ‘battle body’ or scarf, both of which were meticulously carved.  “I STILL SAY THAT THERE’S SOMETHING MISSING. THE OTHERS INVOLVED GOT MENTIONED IN THE PLAQUE, BUT… STILL… IT’S NOT THAT ALL THE OTHERS DON’T DESERVE STATUES, TOO. IT’S JUST… EVEN WITH FRISK, HE… HE JUST LOOKS A LITTLE LONELY. THAT’S ALL.”

***yeah… i know that’s been buggin’ ya.**

Sans looked up at him, and grinned, pulling out a red marker. He walked up to a nearby boulder, and scribbled sans with a great flourish, capping the marker, and nodding his own approval.  ***yep. you’re right. that’s _much_ better.**

Sans stepped back, and he reached out to put his hand on his shoulder.  “WELL… IT _IS_ A LITTLE BETTER. AND… PERHAPS EVEN FITTING.”

***pffft, fitting? how?**

“ISN’T IT OBVIOUS? I MAY HAVE SAVED THE UNDERGROUND, BUT SANS… YOU WERE MY _“ROCK”_!!!”

Neither of them reacted for a moment, just letting the gloriousness of the pun sweep over them. Sans lost it first, a deep, appreciative chuckle bubbling into something more joyful.

Papyrus joined in, pulling Sans closer into a side hug. For a moment, he wished he had the strength to pick him up, because the situation seemed to call for it. But this was nice, too. 

Maybe it wasn’t ideal, but they were making it work, and they’d continue to make it work, no matter what the next ‘it’ happened to be.

So maybe he got a little tired sometimes. Maybe he hadn’t recovered fully after a very long year. His brother and his friends had been there for him each and every step of the way, and he, in turn, had discovered that there were always ways to be helpful and productive, energy, or no.

Echoes of happy laughs mingled with theirs, as, somewhere below them, their friends were climbing to meet them. 

His brother turned, pulling on him just enough to get him to stoop low enough for Sans to hug him.

He returned the hug gladly. From the way Sans’s grip tightened, he was considering what this moment would be like if the determination had done what they had all feared a year ago. He snuggled his older brother, letting the hug work its healing magic.  “SANS… DON’T. NO WHAT IFS… ESPECIALLY ABOUT ANYTHING THAT’S ALREADY HAPPENED. RIGHT?”

Sans nodded. He didn’t exactly need to calm down or anything, but his grip loosened into something more huggy, and less clingy.  ***yeah, i know. i just… i’m just really glad you’re here.**

Papyrus chuckled mirthfully at the way his brother could say something that touched him so deeply, using such simple words, in such a nonchalant way. But then, the words had been a sort of code for them over the past year. Joyfully when times were happiest, and comfortingly when they were… less happy. 

He gave a happy sigh, because, really, what did abilities, or looks, or even greatness matter? In the end, it had been revealed to him that friendship was the most important thing. And he was surrounded by so much of it, he felt it even when he was alone.  “I’M GLAD THAT I’M HERE, TOO.” 

A voice almost as loud as his yelled from behind them, “What?!?! Paps, I expected YOU to be here, but how’d you get ol’ lazybones up this early?!”

He stood up, patting his brother on the shoulder.  “SANS ACTUALLY GOT HIMSELF UP WITHOUT ANY HELP FROM ME. I’M AS SURPRISED AS YOU ARE!”

Sans shrugged.  ***eh. it’s a special occasion. don’t count on it becoming a regular thing.**

He rolled his eyes at his grinning brother.  “YOU REALLY DON’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT ME DEVELOPING ANY SUCH EXPECTATIONS.”

Sans shrugged in good humor, and accepted the dig as the light-hearted jest that it was. They both knew Sans had to more chores and things around the house now, and that, while Sans was still very much the same dependably lazy skeleton he’d always been, things were more like they used to be back when they were growing up. His brother had more hope these days, and that made the twinges of regret easier when Papyrus had moments when he realized that there was just no way he’d accomplished all that had been done around the house without Sans's help.

And just the other day he’d woken up from another nap he hadn’t meant to take, only to realize Sans was sweeping the kitchen floor. At that point, the fact his older brother was doing the chore didn’t surprise him nearly as much as the way he was _humming_ while he did it. Sans had dumped the dirt and crumbs, set the broom aside, clapped off his hands like that was sanitary enough, then stepped out of the kitchen, munching on some chips like nothing was out of the ordinary at all.

And Papyrus had realized that… it wasn’t. The only change in his brother was that he was motivated again. He was _happy_ again. They all were. 

He was losing focus on his surroundings again. Thankfully, Undyne and Sans were used to it by now. They’d started a light conversation with each other while glancing calmly at him every now and again ti let him know he was welcome back at any time. 

As soon as he really took note of that, Undyne grinned at him. “How bout you? Are you as hyped for anime night as the rest of us?”

He nodded without too much enthusiasm. They all knew that he’d never been a very avid anime fan, and that the odds of him and Sans both falling asleep were… well, it was still a toss-up which of them went out first. 

“Papyrus!!!” 

He stooped down and held his arms out as Frisk pretended to barrel into him. The human was actually being as gentle as they possibly could, even though there was no need. Frisk held him tightly before letting him go. It was just their standard greeting. Just a little reminder that they still believed in each other, and that they always would. 

Sans ruffled Frisk’s hair fondly, but he was watching for his “punny” friend, who didn’t usually get far from the human child’s side. As she appeared up the path, his brother grinned, and strolled over. Thankfully they were out of earshot. Those two really could get just a BIT insufferable with the puns. 

Alphys and the king were the last ones up the hill. He didn’t see Asgore as often as he did the others, but the king was as kindly a soul as ever, who always had a smile to offer. “Ah. Papyrus… how are you doing these days?”

“BETTER THAN EVER, KING ASGORE, SIR, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR ASKING.”

Sans turned and grinned like that was a pun… as _’king’_ , right… very funny…

As the king stepped over to look at the view with Undyne, Alphys paused for a second. The last year had been as kind to her as anyone. She had confidence in herself again, and she no longer carried around the weight of all that guilt. “Hi, P-Papyrus. Still no sign of a c-cure. But I’m not giving up!”

He smiled before she could assure him, yet again, that it was hard for her to advance her research into it any, because he was such an isolated case, and remind him that they still knew so little about what had saved him, it was highly dangerous to even poke around too much.  “THAT’S ALRIGHT. I REALLY WISH YOU WOULDN’T WORRY ABOUT IT SO MUCH. I’M FINE.”

She smiled back. “Yeah, I know you are. B-but you’re also my friend. It’s no trouble at all.” She walked over to join the other two.

More monsters were planning on making the journey up the mountain. More friends. Even a few humans had expressed an interest in visiting the historic site today. But somehow it seemed fitting that they meet here before the others. The same little group that had stepped out into the sunlight together last year. Mettaton was going to arrive just a bit later. He wasn’t a morning person, anyway. As if that were an excuse, what with Sans over there chuckling away at puns.

A flash of yellow caught his eye.  “OH. HELLO FLOWEY.”

The little yellow flower that had just sprouted up near him gave a pleasant nod. “Hey.”

Their little flower friend still preferred to be called Flowey to Asriel, because he claimed he wasn’t Asriel anymore. That concept had been difficult for the former queen, Lady Toriel, to accept, but it hardly mattered to her. He lived with her and Frisk, and Frisk sometimes carried him around in a flowerpot. Mostly, though, he came and went as he pleased through the earth, the same as he always had.

Much like Frisk, the pain and grief Flowey had caused in the past resets had been forgiven. Soul or no soul, he was part of their little group, whether he liked it or not. 

Most days, he pretended to be indifferent, but Papyrus preferred to think that the little flower felt more than he wanted to admit. He seemed happy. Or at the very least, content.

Even when he was trying not to show it. He sighed, and burrowed back into the ground, sprouting back up at a spot with a better view. 

The puns had to be letting up by now, so he stood up. It was such a beautiful day to be alive, and surrounded by their closest friends. The future held uncertainty, but it also held so much hope, and promise and potential for good. It was just a matter of keeping the positives in mind, that was all. 

He smiled down at Frisk and, together, they walked over to join the others. 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that brings to Papyrustale to a close. I hope that you've enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it (on, most days of the writing process XD) Again, because she's wonderful, special thanks to Agent Bengal Tiger, for assistance with the story, editing, emotional support, and helping me style it for Comic Sans, Papyrus, and Determination fonts. The cooking show chapter was dull, the musical was out of tempo, the posing was too grounded, and Sans wasn't as knowledgeable about lab experiments as he should have been, and her suggested changes are the best parts of the story. Thanks so much, buddy! 
> 
> Thanks also to Descending Snow for each and every review. You really lifted my spirits and restored some of my hope for becoming a writer someday with your kind words, and I really cannot thank you enough.
> 
>  Thanks to DescendingSnow, The_Fallen_Human, Shyboy95, CrimsonMagic, AgentBengalTiger, Spingtail, shadowjourney15, and actually, and to the others who left Kudos, and thank you, dear reader, for following Papyrus and the gang on this journey. Think positive, look for the best side of people, and stay determined!


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